Six Sides to a Cube
by 1Question
Summary: When a team of Autobots leave the Ark to investigate a crashed ship that was unearthed by the humans, they find blank protoforms that they need to protect from the Decepticons. Add an Allspark shard to the mix and the resulting new Cybertronians will have to choose between what is more important, the mission they've chosen to adopt or their blooming relationships with the others.
1. Chapter 1

**Six Sides to a Cube**

Disclaimer: I don't own any Transformers characters or storylines.

Author's note: This is very lightly based on Generation 1 Transformers.

Seven years ago, the Cybertronian, ships, the Ark and the Nemesis crashed to Earth after engaging in battle. It was soon after that the human Sam first discovered the inhabitants of the Ark. While the Ark remained the main base for the Autobots, ever since their existence had been made known to the general public, small side bases across the US had been prepared in case the Autobots found themselves fighting a long distance from the Ark.

Currently, a small group of seven Autobots was located quite far from the Ark. They had been sent out to investigate something of alien origin that had been unearthed by a construction crew. The seven mechs arrived at the construction site and were shown a large metallic surface partially buried by soil. Several Cybertronian glyphs covered the metal.

"Well, it's definitely Cybertronian," said Jazz leaning against a nearby steel pillar.

Prowl, Ratchet and Wheeljack each did a scan of their own.

"Scans indicate that the structure is hollow," said Prowl.

"I'm not detecting any life signs within," said Ratchet.

"It's a ship," said Wheeljack. "Or what's left of it."

"I refuse to dig that out," said Sunstreaker from behind them. "This job would be better suited to Hoist or Huffer. My altmode isn't made for construction."

"That will not be necessary," said Prowl door wings shifting back and forth. "We have incoming Decepticons. Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Smokescreen and Wheeljack, you will run interference while Ratchet, Jazz and I investigate the ship and determine if anything is salvageable."

"Now you're talking," said Sunstreaker heading off with his brother and the others.

Prowl told the lingering construction workers to evacuate for their safety and the humans quickly cleared the area.

Ratchet brought out his welding torch and began to cut through the hull of the ship in the place that appeared weakest. Jazz helped him pull back the large circular opening he had made like a lid on a can. They shined lights into the hole illuminating the chamber within.

"I don't see anything dangerous," said Jazz looking below. "I'll check it out." He promptly dropped down into the ship while Ratchet looked on. Prowl stood stoically behind them door wings activated to their fullest on alert for intruders.

"Most of the ship must have broken up on impact," said Jazz over the comm. "This place is a mess."

"If there isn't anything salvageable," said Prowl. "We should be on our way."

"Wait," said Jazz. "I think I've found something."

"What is it?" asked Ratchet.

"You're not going to believe this," said Jazz. "Protoforms and there are six of them. They don't appear to be damaged."

"We have to take them with us," said Ratchet. "The Decepticons might not have the cube shard, but we can't let them get ahold of these protoforms."

"I agree," said Jazz. "We don't need any new Decepticons."

There was a covered trailer at the construction site that they decided to borrow. They quickly loaded the protoforms onto the trailer and secured them.

"Smokescreen, what's your situation?" called Prowl over the comm.

"We're kind of busy right now," said Smokescreen as he grappled with Starscream.

Sunstreaker had a hold of Thundercracker and Skywarp was taking Sideswipe for a ride as he tried to dislodge him from his wing. The Autobots held their own against the seeker trine evidenced by the parts that went flying as they ripped into their sensitive wings.

"The twins are with me, but Wheeljack broke from the group and went his own way to intercept the ground Cons," relayed Smokescreen.

"We're finished here," said Prowl. "We're headed to the nearest military base. Regroup and join us when you can." Behind Prowl there was an explosion as the explosive that Jazz had tossed into the ship went off. They transformed and pulled onto the road quickly picking up speed. Ratchet was hauling the trailer and Jazz and Prowl quickly fell in behind.

Smokescreen managed to throw Starscream off of him and into Skywarp bringing them both down. "Let's go!" called Smokescreen out loud to the twins. "The discovery was a bust."

Thundercracker retreated from Sunstreaker's wrath and went to help his trine mates.

Smokescreen released a gas cloud to shield their retreat from view. "We need to catch up with Wheeljack and then head to the base," he said over the com-link. The twins followed him and chatter filled the comm. It was mostly Sideswipe running a playback on the moves he'd used in the battle and Sunstreaker intermittently complaining about the damage to his paint.

Wheeljack wasn't thrilled. He was unfortunate enough to encounter both Barricade and Crankcase with no backup. He was a grade A wrecker though so he was confident that he could take them. The area he was currently in was extremely hilly. The large grass covered hills were bare except for the few houses near the top. As he headed up toward the houses, he took notice of a steep drop off on one side of a hill that ended in a small stone quarry. When Crankcase suddenly tried to ambush him, he deflected him over the edge of the hill and knocked him off into the quarry. He promptly followed him down, landing on top of him and slamming him into the ground. Wheeljack sank his swords deep into his chest and Crankcase's optics flickered and dimmed as he went offline. Suddenly Barricade dropped down from above trying to employ the same move, but Wheeljack blocked him with his blades sending Barricade tumbling for a distance. Barricade regained his feet only to suddenly transform and drive off.

Cautiously Wheeljack climbed out of the quarry and headed back up the hill toward the road. As he was passing one of the houses on the hill, he was suddenly tackled by Barricade right into the house. Glass shattered and walls collapsed like paper under their combined weight. Wheeljack took a blaster round to the shoulder, but managed to toss Barricade off of him and into the road. Movement caught his optic and he briefly turned to see a human woman emerge from a still intact window. She had a baby strapped to her chest and another small child clinging to her hip.

"Slag," said Wheeljack.

The woman looked at him briefly taking note of the Autobot symbol on his chest. "Watch out!" she screamed at him. She then took off running for the nearest house in the distance.

Wheeljack turned back just as Barricade tried to tackle him again. He managed to toss him over his head and into the house. The only part still standing abruptly collapsed under his weight.

"Wheeljack, we're on our way," said Smokescreen suddenly over the comm.

Barricade must have sensed their approaching signals for he quickly transformed down into his altmode and hightailed it. Wheeljack lay against the collapsed house examining the wound in his shoulder. If he temporarily fixed a wire or two, he could probably transform, but Ratchet wasn't going to be happy. Suddenly his attention was drawn to movement by his side. He relaxed when he realized it was the woman from before. He noticed that she no longer had the children with her.

"Are you all right?" she called up to him. "Is there someone I can call to get you help?"

"No, there's no need as my comrades are on their way," said Wheeljack. "Is this your house?"

"Well, it was," said the woman looking at the few remaining parts of the house that were still standing.

"And the sparklings," asked Wheeljack. "Are they okay?"

"You mean the kids," said the woman running a hand through her dark hair. "They're my nephews. I left them with the neighbors and my sister is on the way to pick them up. They're okay. They were slightly scared by the noise, but they're too young to understand what was going on. No worries."

"I'm sure the government will cover the house," said Wheeljack. "Perhaps you should stay with your relatives for now."

"I'll figure something out," she said. "But for now, I'll stay with you until your friends come. I don't like leaving someone who's wounded alone. I'm a human nurse, but if you think I can help you with something, let me know."

"My designation is Wheeljack," he said. "What's your name?"

"I'm Claudia," she replied. "It's nice to meet you."

The twins and Smokescreen pulled up to the strange sight of a wounded Wheeljack amicably chatting with a woman in front of her destroyed house. It got even stranger when Wheeljack insisted that she come with them to the base as she was without accommodations for the night.

Ratchet, Prowl, Jazz and their cargo made it to the nearest military base by nightfall. They had radioed ahead so the gate guard was expecting them. So as soon as he saw the Autobot symbol, he let them on through. He directed them to hangers three, four and five. The base appeared rather deserted as they drove onto it. Two jets sat on the tarmac, but no personnel were seen outside the hangers. Ratchet, Prowl and Jazz reached hanger four and transformed pulling their cargo inside and out of sight. A lone human female soldier with her blond hair in a ponytail greeted them. She had pulled the short straw and was on night shift because she was not currently on assignment. So for now, she was the only one available to get the Autobots situated.

"Welcome to Azure Military Base," said the woman. "I'm Audrey. If you have any concerns, please inform any soldier you see. I'll be stationed in hanger three overnight for the next week so feel free to come to me."

"Hello little lady," said Jazz. "I'm Jazz, this is Prowl and that's Ratchet. We should have four more comrades inbound."

"Why is the base so deserted?" asked Prowl in curiosity.

"This base currently only has a skeleton crew at the moment and part of it is under construction," said Audrey. "You won't find more than twenty of us on the base at one time and that includes the contractors. Hanger three is your rec room. There will always be a soldier that can assist you there. Hanger four as you can see is empty and available for your use. Hanger five has a wash rack and four partitioned rooms. Hanger six is currently under construction, but will be available for your use when it's finished. That is if you intend to be here for awhile."

"We need a secure vault or basement to secure our more sensitive equipment," said Ratchet briskly.

"Follow me," she said. Audrey headed toward the far side of the hanger. Each hanger on this base had thick stonewalls which was capped by a metal roof. Audrey reached the wall at the end of the hanger and then seemed to disappear. Ratchet made a surprised noise and Audrey stuck her head back into view in front of the wall in question.

"This is interesting," said Jazz approaching her.

The wall was built in such a manner as to disguise a large stone staircase behind it with a simple optical illusion. The staircase itself was large enough for a Cybertronian to fit down and it led to an underground bunker with a floor to ceiling vault at one end.

"This base isn't exactly high tech, but when faced with an enemy with technology greater than our own, simpler tends to work better," said Audrey. She handed Prowl the combination for the vault. "You can reset the combo on the inside before you close the door. I'll be in hanger three all night if you need anything else."

"This will be acceptable," said Prowl looking over the vault.

Ratchet and Jazz started to transport the protoforms down and propped them on one side of the vault. They finished and locked the vault behind them while Prowl remained topside to greet the rest of their arriving team.

When the rest of the team arrived, they were surprised to see a woman get out of Smokescreen's altmode. "This is Claudia," said Wheeljack as he transformed. "I crushed her house and I figured she could stay here for the time being." Prowl contacted Audrey in order to get Claudia accommodations for the night.

The rec room in hanger three had been constructed solely with the Autobots in mind. It consisted of a giant stone table surrounded by six stone blocks that acted as stools. There were also two slabs of stone that formed a crude couch. There were four TV's on the wall each grouped together in sets of two's. For the humans, there was a small raised platform near the door that held a desk and a couch. Audrey had been sitting in there all night, but none of the Autobots had come in after she had gotten Claudia situated. She was relieved by Paris the next morning and headed to the barracks to get some sleep.

Paris was a small woman with short dark hair and a permanent scowl fixed on her face. She had never seen an Autobot except for on the TV, but she didn't particularly care. She was mad that she was stuck here babysitting instead of doing her real job. The twins were the first ones to enter the rec room. Sideswipe immediately introduced himself and Paris reciprocated politely. She pointed out the TV's and how two could be integrated into one display. She motioned to the list of passwords posted on the wall that could be used to access Netflix or online gaming. Sideswipe reassured her that they had brought their own gaming controllers with them. Sunstreaker on the other hand never said a word and the two eventually went over and started playing a video game. Smokescreen came in next asking her about obtaining supplies. She looked him up and down like she was sizing him up.

"Do you have a requisition list?" she asked in a bored tone.

"It's all in my processor," said Smokescreen grinning.

"Well write it down," she said pushing an oversized requisition form and pen toward him. "You can use this or you can use the wireless printer here. Once the list is complete, I can send it to purchasing and they'll make the final decision. I'd put the most important stuff at the top. You might actually get it."

Smokescreen scowled at her.

"Look, I'm a translator not an errand boy," she said. "I'm only filling in. This is the military and they have procedures for everything. You guys should expect all the red tape by now. I doubt you've had it any easier at the other bases."

"You'd be surprised," said Smokescreen smirking. "I have my ways of getting what I want."

"If you say so," said Paris not buying his act.

Claudia hadn't seen Wheeljack today because he was holed up in hanger five after being repaired by Ratchet. So instead, she was now practically joined at the hip to a very young soldier with short blond hair that went by the name of Patricia. Patricia had a baby face and seemed to exude innocence. She had apparently assigned herself as Claudia's guard for the duration of her stay. She was easy to talk to and they had talked about their families during breakfast.

"There isn't anything classified going on here at the moment," said Patricia. "But some of the guys here are Neanderthals and I don't want them harassing a civilian. That's why you'll have an escort most of the time. If they do cause you any problems, let me know." As Patricia and Claudia walked out of the mess hall, a wolf whistle came from one of the guys driving slowly by in a construction truck. Patricia immediately flicked him off.

"Oh, come on baby," cried the man.

The women ignored him and headed toward hanger three.

"And then there are the construction guys," said Patricia sighing. "They do good work, but they'd rather flirt than work so ignore them."

"Mateo, get your ass over here!" called a dark haired woman in full work gear over the radio. "That's if you want to make it out of here in time for supper." The man in the truck picked up speed and arrived at hanger six shortly after. There were 'keep out' signs posted all over the hanger and one of them was even in Cybertronian.

Jazz was in his altmode over by hanger one which housed communications for the humans. He had tapped into the system and was broadcasting an encrypted message to the Ark. They were going to need additional backup in order to get the protoforms safely back to the Ark. His silver Porsche altmode had snagged the attention of some of the communication's officers. One of them, a very pretty brunette was currently lavishing him with compliments and he didn't mind that at all.

Both Mattie and Harmony had been drawn out of the hanger by the Autobot's presence. They were both communication specialists, but that's where the similarities ended. Harmony was a beautiful high maintenance brunette who was overly friendly with everyone. Mattie was a red head with unruly curls and more of a wallflower in appearance. She was social as well just not as exuberant as Harmony. They had both introduced themselves to Jazz immediately taking to his smooth laid back personality, but as usual Harmony had taken over the conversation from there.

"I'd love to go for a ride with you," purred Harmony. "We could totally make my ex jealous. He loves Porsches."

"Harmony and Jazz, doesn't that sound like we belong together," said Jazz smoothly. "We could go tonight."

Suddenly a soldier called out Harmony's name loudly from the door. The man was openly scowling at Jazz.

"I'll be right there Tom," Harmony called back.

"He's just jealous that he's not even half the mech I am," said Jazz.

Harmony giggled and then walked off into the hanger. "Maybe some other time," she called back.

"Tough luck," said Mattie patting his roof sympathetically. "Tom's got a corvette and he promised to take her shopping later."

Jazz startled slightly. He had almost forgotten she was there.

"You've got the smooth ride so now all you need is a big enough bank account and she'd be all yours," said Mattie as she followed Harmony's example and headed back into the hanger.

Paris was bored. The twins had lapsed into some other language and watching them play games wasn't entertaining. The monotony of the day was finally broken when Patricia arrived bringing the civilian that had arrived yesterday with her. Paris had only talked with Patricia briefly before. All she knew about her was that she was a brand new recruit and barely twenty years old. Claudia introduced herself and relayed how she had gotten involved in the situation. She worked as a nurse for a small clinic a short distance from here. Paris briefly told them about her work as a translator. She turned to reply to a question from Claudia about the base when she was startled by Smokescreen who was leaning next to railing. "Did you need something?" she asked regaining her composure.

Smokescreen held up the requisition forms.

"Is it in English?" she asked.

Smokescreen's face deadpanned and Sideswipe snickered from where he sat on the couch.

"I'll take that as a yes," she said standing and retrieving the papers.

Claudia turned to Smokescreen. "How is Wheeljack? I haven't seen him since we first arrived."

"He'll be fine," said Smokescreen reassuringly. "Ratchet fixed up his shoulder and he's in recharge right now."

"That's good," said Claudia smiling.

Paris left to turn in the paperwork and Patricia and Claudia accompanied her out. Smokescreen watched the twins for a bit then left as well.

When Audrey came in for the night shift, everyone was gone and she was alone again. She turned on one of the TV's and let the news play in the background. It was going to be another night of watching absolutely nothing. She knew that the soldier that ran the purchasing office was out for the night so she had snagged the order requisition slips that Paris had turned in so she'd have something to do. She turned on her computer and checked the list against the base's inventory log. There were quite a few things that the base already had, but there were a few that were going to be hard to get. Audrey separated the list out putting checks by what was available and question marks next to the items she would have to ask about.

The sun hadn't even risen yet when Ratchet made his way into the rec room. The human soldier on duty acknowledged him as he entered. He paused for a moment to watch the current news that was playing on the TV. Normally you wouldn't catch Ratchet in the rec room, but with hanger six still under construction. It was either bunk with someone in hanger five or takeover guard duty in hanger four. The twins weren't on patrol till later so he escaped them if only for the moment by coming here. The human soldier at the desk called out to him.

"You're called Ratchet, right?" asked Audrey.

When he nodded.

"I have a question about the supplies you requested," she said.

Ratchet huffed. It was always an uphill battle with the military to get supplies in a timely manner if at all.

Audrey stood and moved to the railing. "I've separated the list into what we currently have on base and what needs to be ordered," she said showing him the lists. "Most of the supplies you need are stored in hanger seven. I'll have the guys bring everything on this list over to hanger four later today, but as for the rest, I have a few questions."

Ratchet raised an eye ridge.

"What did you need nitro glycerin for?" she asked. "It's not that easy to get. We have some heavy ordnance and explosives if you need them or does it have to be nitro?"

Ratchet took the list from her and looked it over. "Wheeljack," he said lowly. He raised his head to look at her. "Under no circumstances are you to get the nitro. I didn't realize that certain things had been added to the list after it was approved. The others are needed though."

"What are the top priorities?" Audrey asked.

"These seven are for medical needs," he said pointing them out. "The other four would help, but we can do without them if necessary."

"I need the quantity for item 2 and 4," she said. "And the measurement required for item 8. If you don't trust humans to cut it to your specification, specify a bigger measurement and cut it yourself."

"We've encountered pushback before when trying to order supplies," said Ratchet sadly as he filled in the measurements. "Do you think we'll actually be able to get this order fulfilled?"

"If we went through the base's purchaser, maybe not, but I have a few contacts outside the military that I can try," Audrey said encouragingly. "I'll guarantee the medical supplies myself because that's not really something you should do without."

"Your name was Audrey, correct?" asked Ratchet.

"That's me," she replied.

"I'll leave it to you then," he said heading out the door. "I need to go have a talk with Wheeljack about ordering explosives."

As the first rays of sun broke over the horizon, Audrey picked up the phone and started making calls. She then joined Paris, Claudia, Mattie and Patricia for breakfast that morning though it was technically dinner for her. She told Paris to inform Tyrone, the gate guard, about the incoming priority supplies for the Autobots that were due to arrive today and tomorrow at hanger 8 which was the only hanger outside the base. Paris promised to relay the message.


	2. Chapter 2

The twins were bored and that could only mean trouble. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had already checked out the human hangers, but Sunstreaker didn't stick around because like his brother his altmode was a Lamborghini and he didn't want the humans touching him. So he wandered down to the hanger under construction. There were signs all over warning people to stay out, but he didn't see any of the workers outside. He stuck his head into the hanger opening and came face to face with a worker hanging from the ceiling near the door welding something just above. The worker swung the blowtorch his way and he flinched back fast enough to avoid being singed. The human turned off the blowtorch and pushed up the protective shield on the helmet. Sunstreaker recognized the human immediately and he let out a snarl.

The woman hanging from the ceiling in front of him let out a bunch of Spanish curses. "You never learn," she spat at Sunstreaker in English. "I figured a few nice new scratches on that paint job might make it sink in. Too bad I missed."

The woman hanging before him went by the name Esperanza. Not only was she part of the construction crew that routinely dealt with the government bases, but she was also the president of the company. This was also not her first run in with Sunstreaker.

"You were trying to hit me," accused Sunstreaker snarling.

Sideswipe had felt Sunstreaker's anger leak over the bond and had come over to see what was going on. In front of hanger six he could see Sunstreaker shaking in rage while spewing Cybertronian curses at the woman hanging in front of his face.

"We've gone through this before!" yelled Esperanza. "If you see a construction sign, you stay out. How hard is that you bit brain! I even have it listed in your language slagger." She had been around the Cybertronians long enough to start picking up some of their insults so now she could insult Sunstreaker in three languages and she reveled in it.

Patricia had overheard the commotion starting between the mech and the construction crew so she hightailed it to hanger four to find some backup. Prowl glanced her way as she ran in. "There's a situation in hanger six between your guys and the construction crew," said Patricia trying to catch her breath.

"I'll handle it," said Prowl. "Thank you for informing me." He left the hanger quickly.

Sideswipe tried to calm his brother down over the bond, but the last time Sunstreaker had encountered this woman, he had ended up covered in sandy soil that had been purposely dumped on him by a dump truck. She had also given him new scratches the time before that. Still he knew that he had to try and salvage the situation because these two were like oil and fire and the fire had already been lit.

Sunstreaker grabbed the lines that suspended Esperanza from the roof and broke them with a single yank. Esperanza dropped the welder and dangled helplessly from his fist in front of his furious face, but she still didn't back down.

"What are you going to do now?" she said mockingly. "Show just how little you actually are."

"Sunny," said Sideswipe from behind him. "She's not worth it."

"Like you're any better, you glitch," responded Esperanza. "You two are one in the same."

Suddenly hands gripped Sunstreaker's arms pulling him away, but the action made the lines slip from his grasp and Esperanza plummeted toward the ground. A large black hand snatched her before she hit and she felt the air swoosh out of her lungs at the impact. She would definitely agree that that had been a little too close. She would have to rethink the safety considerations that the Autobots had promised her. Of course, she hadn't expected to run into Sunstreaker again so unexpectedly, but considering how much they traveled, it was simply an eventuality.

"Are you injured?" asked Prowl turning her right side up.

"I don't think so," said Esperanza straightening. She could see Sunstreaker being dragged off by Smokescreen and Ratchet. Jazz was strongly encouraging Sideswipe to follow.

"It was foolish to engage Sunstreaker," said Prowl. "He could have seriously injured you."

"You may be right, but he needed to be put in his place," said Esperanza huffing in annoyance. "Plus, he's the one who barged in here despite the warnings. He could have hurt one of my employees and I won't tolerate that."

"Since you despise him so much, I would advise that you simply steer clear of him until we leave," said Prowl.

"Oh, I don't hate him," said Esperanza. "He and his brother are very much like my boys here. Each and every one came from a situation where they had to fight to survive and they were only loyal to themselves because even their gangs couldn't protect them. My guys trust my company to help make something of their lives. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe already have a purpose, but they still only have each other to rely on. Their "us against the world" view needs to change before they will. There is still hope though. They're still young and they have time to change. You can put me down now," said Esperanza gesturing toward the ground.

Prowl placed her gently on the ground.

"Mateo, Jose, Ben, Andres and Aaron! The show is over," she yelled. "Get back to work!"

As punishment for their actions, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were currently confined to hanger four on permanent guard duty and both were forbidden to go anywhere near hanger six.

Jazz left the communication hanger after sending another message to the Ark. His message had been received, but he was still waiting for a reply. While he was there, he invited Harmony to the rec room, but she declined stating that she had other plans. Jazz headed over to the rec room where Smokescreen and Wheeljack had already gathered. Claudia was sitting on the table listening to Wheeljack talk animatedly about something scientific. He didn't know if she understood it, but she at least looked interested. Smokescreen was sitting across from him, but he looked up as Jazz came in. He lifted a large deck of cards.

"You in," he called. "Ratchet will make four."

Jazz inclined his head in agreement. He noticed Mattie up on the platform talking to Paris. She turned her head as he came in.

"Did she stand you up?" she asked.

"Can't a mech catch a break," he said with his hand on his chassis. "I don't know how much more I can take."

"Who was it this time?" asked Paris laughing.

"Alex," responded Mattie.

"Sorry Jazz," said Paris. "His truck can't compete with your altmode, but his parent's money can."

Ratchet sauntered in and took a seat at the table. Jazz joined them while Wheeljack transferred Claudia to the platform with the other women.

Paris wasn't sure what game they were playing since she'd never seen playing cards like the ones they had, but she knew that Smokescreen was winning the majority with Jazz in a distant second. "Is he cheating?" she called over to the mechs nodding toward Smokescreen.

"Now that's just rude," he responded as the other mechs chuckled. "I'll have you know that I'm simply skilled."

"Yes, but skilled at cards or skilled at cheating," Paris tossed back.

Patricia was headed back to the barracks when she encountered Jack. He was a soldier several years older than her and he was obviously drunk. She could smell the alcohol before she even got close. He was returning from a day off so she couldn't criticize him, but she also knew that Claudia was still out so she tried to take care of the problem before he became a problem. "Jack, you should head to your room and sleep it off," said Patricia.

He laughed and tried to clumsily latch onto her, but she ducked under his arm.

"C'mon Jack, I'm not playing with you," said Patricia sternly. The warning obviously didn't get through when he tried to lunge at her again. A giant black hand suddenly appeared between the two. "Is there a problem here?" asked a voice.

Patricia looked up to see Prowl hovering over her. "I was trying to get this inebriated fool to his room, but he's being difficult," she said.

"I believe I can help with that," he said. He swiftly picked the man up and carried him to hanger two leaving him in the custody of another male soldier.

"Thanks for helping with that," said Patricia who had followed him over.

"You are welcome," Prowl replied. "I was examining the base's perimeter earlier today on my patrol and I wanted to inquire about the apparent lack of training courses or shooting ranges on this base."

"The Major is on extended leave and we've been ordered to see to our guests so that is why you haven't seen us doing maneuvers lately," she explained. "We don't have any training courses because we generally utilize the natural surrounding area and mountains for training. That provides a far tougher challenge than an obstacle course. The shooting range was temporarily dismantled because of the contractors on site. It's a safety precaution and as soon as they leave it will be reinstalled. There's only a skeleton crew here right now and the bulk of our forces won't return here till later. With a few exceptions myself included most of the rest of the crew currently on base is highly specialized."

"Thank you for the information," said Prowl. "Have a good evening."

"You too," said Patricia.

When Audrey arrived to switch out with Paris, the mechs were still playing cards, but they also had a movie playing in the background. She wondered if it was a tactic to distract the other players.

Ratchet tossed his cards on the table. "I'm out," he said. He rose from the table when he caught sight of Audrey typing at the computer. He came over next to the platform.

"Did you get the supplies you needed?" she asked without looking his way. "The last two should be in early tomorrow." When he didn't answer, she looked over. "Was everything okay?"

"Yes and yes," said Ratchet. "How did you manage to get them so fast? I figured it would have taken weeks."

"There is a little service called overnight delivery," said Audrey shrugging. "And if that doesn't work just remember that money talks."

"I appreciate it, but you didn't do anything illegal, did you?" he asked. "I'd prefer you didn't get in trouble on our behalf."

"No worries," she said flashing him a smile. "Everything was perfectly legal."

Wheeljack and Jazz were still at the table absorbed in the movie, but Smokescreen had stealthily moved over to join the conversation. "I know you're only filling in as our liaison," said Smokescreen. "And I know that Paris is actually a translator, but what function do you have?"

"Oh, I'm in intelligence," said Audrey.

"So communications," said Smokescreen digging for more information.

"Hardly," said Audrey. "Infiltration and information collection." She glanced over to see the look of disbelief on Ratchet's face and she sighed in irritation. "Daddy is a billionaire, but he's also an army veteran so in order to have access to our inheritance, my siblings and I had to enlist. It's like a family tradition. I'm in a unique position where I'm well known in high society so it's child's play to infiltrate the parties and events of the world's richest. They're also some of the dirtiest people that exist in this world. I collect information on them and it's used to gain a strategic advantage especially in countries where we have little influence. I don't just play for the army. This base has dozens of agency affiliations."

Ratchet made a noise of disbelief.

"Most of the soldiers here don't know about this so keep it quiet please," she said swiveling in her chair to include Smokescreen in her gaze.

"Lips are sealed," he said.

Sunstreaker had cooled down enough to stop pacing. He felt a little remorse over dropping Esperanza earlier, a very little. How that woman managed to get underneath his armor with her presence alone he didn't know. She was in her fifties and he was way older than all of humanity, but her scoldings always managed to make him feel as if he were a youngling that had repeatedly screwed up. He was now stuck in this empty hanger on guard duty because of her.

Sideswipe was currently watching something on his data pad and he laughed at the actions of the characters on the screen. Outwardly he didn't seem at all bothered over the woman, but Sunstreaker had felt his anger over the bond earlier. Sideswipe was known for being an easygoing mech who tried to get along with everyone, but when he'd first met Esperanza, she'd seen right through his charade. Sure she understood that unlike his brother he found humans interesting and he was willing to interact, but she had immediately seen the lack of respect he had for the human race and she was not adverse to calling him out on it in a heavily curse laden tirade. At those times for some reason he suddenly became unable to return the abuse or protest her actions.


	3. Chapter 3

Ratchet's supplies arrived early the following day and Audrey made sure they were delivered to hanger four before she retired for the day. Everyone seemed to have something to do today, whether it was patrol or inventory. Patricia and Claudia went to town with a soldier named Tyrone in order to get some personal supplies. Mattie and Harmony had a myriad of communications coming in that they needed to sort and send out. Paris was busy translating a new manuscript the army had obtained and Esperanza and her boys were hip deep in cement work.

Most were deeply absorbed in their work when the base suddenly got an unexpected arrival. After seeing the Autobot symbol and radioing the other mechs, the gate guard let Blurr in. He sped over to hanger four transforming on the go. Prowl's greeting was cut off abruptly when he saw the cube shard in his hand. There was a sudden spark near his head and he fell toward the floor only to be caught by an irate Ratchet. Ratchet reset his processor and Prowl came back online quickly. The other mechs quickly joined them wanting to see what the commotion was about.

"Why is that here?" asked Ratchet point blank. "We wanted an escort back to the Ark not for the Allspark shard to be brought here."

"I didn't really have a choice," said Blurr quickly. "The Decepticons breached the Ark and they nearly took the shard so I had no choice but to take it and run. Is there someplace I can put this because I'd rather not just keep holding it?"

Prowl took the shard from him and he and Jazz placed it below in the vault with the protoforms.

"We'll need to double the guard now," said Prowl as he returned.

Jazz headed to the communication hanger in order to send out another message. The message was received and he got an instant reply. Apparently the Ark had been attacked, but the attack had been repelled. There were mechs en route to provide backup for their return trip already.

Because of the increased security and patrols, both human and Cybertronian, the only person that met the new mech that evening was Audrey when she came in on night shift.

xxxxx

The majority of the women on base were having breakfast together in the morning. Patricia, Claudia, Paris, Audrey, Mattie and even Esperanza had joined them. Esperanza was currently explaining to Claudia about her company.

"As the owner, I wouldn't have expected you to actually be working with your employees," said Claudia.

"Well my late husband and I built this company from the ground up so there isn't anything that I don't know how to do," she said. "And I'm a bit picky about who I have working on the government projects otherwise I do let my sons manage the non-governmental work."

"Are you planning on retiring anytime soon?" asked Claudia.

"I'll be sixty in a couple of years so I've still got some good years left before that," she said. "Otherwise I'd get stuck at home watching my great grandson and yes I have one of those. I started out as one of those poor country kids and I had my first son when I was twelve. My husband wasn't much older at the time."

"Wow," said Claudia. "That's amazing."

"Did you meet the new mech?" asked Paris looking at Audrey.

"Yes, I met him briefly last night," she said. "His name is Blurr and he's a fast talker. He switched topics so rapidly that I think he might have ADHD if that's possible for mechanical beings."

The women laughed at that.

"What's the situation with you and the twins?" asked Paris looking over at Esperanza curiously.

She shook her head and sighed. "I've encountered them several times before. They almost got some of my employees injured the first time and I didn't take that lightly. I scratched Sunstreaker's paint in retaliation and apparently no one would ever dare to do that, but I'm not afraid of their posturing. At this point they probably think of me as their archenemy, but for the most part they're just stupid kids. Sideswipe's parting remark that time was 'I _hope_ we don't meet again.' My name means hope so talk about a lame pun."

"I haven't met all of them, but I like Jazz," said Mattie. "He's such a smooth talker and it's so funny to watch him try and fail to win over Harmony."

"Prowl is nice too," added Patricia. "He stepped in and helped me out with a problem I got stuck handling."

"Aw, you kids are so cute with your crushes," said Esperanza.

"I'd watch out for Smokescreen though," interjected Paris. "Something about him screams underworld boss and I think he cheats at cards."

"My guys should be here soon. I should get going," said Esperanza rising.

All the others followed her out, but before they could head their separate ways an explosion from the direction of the gate made them freeze. Audrey's fist immediately slammed into the button on the side of the hanger and an alarm started blaring throughout the base.

"Patricia, take the civilians to hanger four," barked Audrey drawing her weapon. "Mattie, you go to."

Patricia grabbed Claudia's arm and pulled her toward the hanger. Esperanza followed quickly behind with Mattie. They entered the hanger at a run.

"We're under attack by Decepticons," Patricia called to the already armed mechs. The women headed down the stairs and into the basement unknowingly right next to the Decepticon's main target.

Outside, Starscream and Thundercracker opened fire on hanger one effectively destroying it. They also blew up the two jets on the tarmac just for fun. The twins emerged from hanger four and started looking for a way to bring them down. A nearby military jeep came in handy as Sunstreaker propelled it through the air right into Starscream's flight path. Starscream didn't have time to avoid it and he and the jeep went tumbling along the ground. In order to buy him time to recover, Thundercracker headed straight toward the twins and engaged them. Skywarp was doing his own thing when he took a good shot from Wheeljack sending him careening into hanger two. It promptly erupted into flames and this forced both Audrey and Paris to flee from where they'd taken cover behind the door. Barricade sped past and tackled Blurr into hanger three so the women bypassed it and headed for hanger four shooting at the enemy as they went.

Jazz, Prowl and Smokescreen were taking on Onslaught and Scrapper, while Ratchet remained in hanger four acting as the last stand between the Decepticons and their goal. Ratchet quickly scooped up Paris and Audrey as they ran in. He deposited them down near the staircase. Knowing that they'd be of little help in the situation, Paris and Audrey quickly retreated below to the basement where they encountered the others who were huddled next to the entrance wall. It was a smart move. Any Decepticon coming through the door would most likely focus on the vault straight away and miss seeing them.

Suddenly Blurr burst through the door and opened the vault at lightning speed. As he went to retrieve the shard, he heard the humans' scream a warning and turned in time to avoid taking a shot to the back. The shard slipped from his grip and fell to the vault floor behind him. Scrapper stood there in the door, gun aimed, but Blurr was faster and he slammed him into the wall pummeling him over and over with his fists.

Someone crashed into the hanger overhead with enough force to jolt the occupants in the basement. Debris and pipes rained down from above and the basement started to quickly fill with water. The women tried to head for the stairs, but Blurr and his sparring partner was currently in their way. So with little choice they instead entered the vault. Blurr was on the bottom step of the staircase trying to draw Scrapper out of the basement. Scrapper had pulled a sword from his subspace and electricity crackled around the blade. He swung it at Blurr, but Blurr was too fast for him and he dodged his swings repeatedly. Blurr heard noise on the stairs from above him and spared a second to look up. Scrapper used the distraction to lunge at him, but Blurr sidestepped him successfully unbalancing him. In order to save himself Scrapper dropped the sword and volts upon volts of electricity traveled through the water electrocuting both him and the humans below. Blurr used that moment to end him with a shot to the spark and Scrapper fell to the ground optics dimming. The sword finally burnt out, but the electricity had traveled through the water hitting and knocking the women to the water soaked floor. It traveled over the Allspark shard causing it to emit a flare of bright energy that engulfed everything in the vault including the protoforms. Blurr headed above to see the Decepticons in retreat as more Autobots arrived as backup. The Autobots wouldn't discover the bodies of the six women until Prowl came down to secure the vault once again. At that point, there was nothing any of them could do to revive them.

The aftermath of the battle was grim, five of the eight hangers were destroyed and two civilians lay in body bags along with seven soldiers. Those soldiers still left alive were resigned to calling time of death and shipping the bodies out. The utilities were shut off at the source to avoid any further flooding and the base was declared a total loss. The Autobots set about repairing those who were damaged, but unlike the Decepticons or the humans, they hadn't lost anyone. Those who had taken a liking to some of the humans here on base were subdued. As soon as the last mech was repaired, the plan was to head straight for the relative safety of the Ark.


	4. Chapter 4

In the vault below what was left of hanger four, six pairs of blue optics onlined in the dark. Each protoform ran through their basic programming instinctively knowing how their bodies functioned. While their main language was Cybertronian, all of them also had English and a few had the data for other languages. This was because each protoform had a file in their processor full of memories of a different human female that could be accessed at any time. They weren't upset or panicked about what had happened to the human females in the files because that was simply a past event that no longer applied to them so it was simply accepted. They didn't know if they were those females reborn or if they simply carried their memories.

"At the very least we could use those files as a basis to start," said one out loud suddenly. "It's a place to start becoming who we will be when we have no other data."

The others seemed to agree.

"I want my designation to be Night," said one. "It's a homophone to knight and the memory file indicates that I found the dark soothing."

"I'll be Dawn," said another. "Just because it's the opposite of night and the dawn is pretty."

"I'll choose Echo," said the third. "It's military and I used to work in communications, but I also have a memory of yelling into a canyon and listening for the echo."

"I'm Rain because I find the sound calming," said the fourth.

"I'll choose Mist," said the fifth. "It transforms the world around you and now I can transform so I thought it was fitting."

"And I'll be Justice for more reasons than you'll ever know," said the last.

"We still need altmodes," said Rain. "The vent on the vault is damaged and there is not much left of the hanger above. I've checked and we have access to the Internet so we can choose something. I suggest we go one at a time since there's not much room in here."

Night chose a dark purple hardtop jeep with black accents. Her transformation gave her thick armor, a black visor and claws instead of the rounded digits.

Dawn chose a black armored SUV with silver accents. This left her even more heavily armored than Night.

Echo chose a shiny dark blue sports car with black accents.

Justice chose a deep red luxury car with a paint gradient that faded from red to black. She also had silver accents and claws.

Mist chose an all white sports car with a purple rose decal on the hood. She had an attachment on both hands that looked like iron knuckles with spikes.

Rain chose a deep blue green metallic colored sports car. She also had a black visor and claws.

"It's a shame it's too dark to see ourselves clearly," said Dawn.

"Let's tell them we want out then," said Rain. "There has to be a guard out there somewhere."

While the others were attracting attention, Rain accessed her memory file and hacked into the bank account of the former human Audrey. She moved all the money in the account through various banks and set it up in an offshore account under her newly created alias. She had a feeling that it might come in handy later.

Bluestreak and Hound were standing across from the vault when they heard a faint tapping noise. They glanced at each other and then back at the vault. Next there was the sound of scraping as if metal was being scraped on metal.

"What do you think that is?" said Bluestreak. "I mean there's nothing in there but the shard and it can't make that sound, can it? And then there's the protoforms, but they're just empty bodies."

"Enough Bluestreak," said Hound quickly. "I've already commed Prowl and he's on his way."

Prowl, Jazz and Ironhide arrived shortly after. Prowl put a comforting hand on the agitated Bluestreak's shoulder. Jazz stepped forward and put in the combination while Ironhide had his cannons out and primed. Jazz pulled the door open and the mechs were greeted with the sight of four sets of bright blue optics and two dark visors.

"I don't think the protoforms are inactive any more," said Hound stepping closer. "And it looks like they've already picked out their altmodes."

From what they could see, the new Cybertronians all looked like femme models. They made no hostile movements now that they were exposed instead they just stood looking back at them in curiosity. Ironhide slowly lowered his cannons. Behind Jazz, Prowl glitched and Hound caught him as he fell back.

"We have to take him to Ratchet anyway, so we might as well bring them too," said Hound.

"This way femmes," said Jazz gesturing. Jazz studied each femme as they stepped out noting the differences between them. The one with the dark purple armor was easily an inch or so taller than the twins. All the others were about Ratchet, Prowl or his height so there was no mini-bots in the bunch. As soon as the last femme was out, he stepped into the vault himself and retrieved the shard. They had been planning on leaving soon anyway so there was no reason to leave it behind.

When they got to the hanger that Ratchet was now using for the med bay, all chatter ceased immediately. The mechs in the med bay stood looking at the new femmes in awe. It had been ages since any of them had seen a new Cybertronian.

"Looks like we shouldn't have locked up the shard with the protoforms and not expected something to happen," said Jazz nonchalantly. "But on the plus side, they'll be able to drive themselves."

After rebooting Prowl, Ratchet started to scan the femmes immediately. "How did they get altmodes already?" he asked. "There's no way newly sparked protoforms could have adapted this fast."

"We got them off the Internet," said Night startling the mechs. "We could connect to it in the vault. I'm Night, by the way. This is Dawn, Echo, Rain, Mist and Justice."

"So you downloaded Earth's languages in order to understand the Internet," said Ratchet.

"No, we had memory files," said Night. "Cybertronian is of course our base language in these forms, but the memory files had English. I also had Spanish. A couple of the femmes know additional languages as well."

"What do you mean by memory files?" asked Ratchet.

"I have a memory file from a female human organic by the name of Esperanza Cortez," she said. "Each of them has a file too, but for a different female human organic. I believe the names are Claudia, Patricia, Audrey, Paris and Mattie."

"How is that possible?" asked Jazz. "Ratchet, they can't possibly be them, can they?"

Ratchet turned to Dawn who was closest. "Do you think you're human?"

"Of course not," said Dawn. "I'm Cybertronian. I simply have a memory file detailing Claudia's life. It's how we adapted so fast with no other data available."

"This is fascinating," said Wheeljack looking at Dawn like she was something he'd never seen before. "Within them, the memories of our human comrades were preserved. How did this happen?"

"There was water, the shard, those humans and the protoforms all mixed up in that vault," said Blurr. "Who knows what happened when that electrified sword fell in the water."

"Does it matter?" asked Rain stepping forward. "We aren't humans that much is obvious. I assume the organic bodies were already recovered. Suddenly having mechanical beings claim that they're the humans reincarnated, would only further sadden and enrage the grieving parties. Even with the human's memories, we are still Cybertronian femmes. I also suggest that the mention of the memory files never makes it to our human allies. At best they'd be confused and at worst they would try and put a claim on us. I for one will not stand by and be experimented on so if you'd like to keep your truce with the humans, I'd let that knowledge remain known only to the Autobots."

"I agree," said Prowl from behind Ratchet. "Now once Ratchet has cleared everyone, we can head back to the Ark. Any further discussion can be held until then."

It was easy getting the new femmes on the road, as all of them had known how to drive already. Being the most heavily armored, Dawn had offered to carry the shard telling the mechs that it would free them up to fight in case they were attacked. Prowl agreed and she was currently flanked on all sides by the protective Autobots. Some of the mechs were still a little shocked over the situation with the memories. For some it lessoned the ache from losing their human allies, but for others it left them confused. This mostly applied to a certain set of twins. Surprisingly they had felt sorrow when they had heard about Esperanza's death. They had known her for several years and despite the antagonistic relationship between the three, she had started to become a constant in their lives. With the news that her memories had survived in the femme Night, they didn't know how to feel or how they were going to act around her. "We'll figure it out," said Sideswipe to Sunstreaker over the bond.


	5. Chapter 5

Once everyone was safely back in the Ark, Prowl retrieved the Allspark shard and the femmes were immediately sent with Ratchet to the med bay while the rest of the mechs started on repairs and debriefings.

Ratchet scanned the femmes to complete the base data he had on them. They were a little low on energon, but otherwise the scans indicated that nothing was wrong. He had them download some extra virus protection, but everything else seemed to be up to date. He provided them with energon cubes and locked down the med bay so they couldn't leave while he went to his meeting. He didn't need the curious mechs that were loitering in the hallway outside the med bay bothering them.

Justice privately contacted the other femmes over the com-link. "I should probably have asked this earlier, but are all of you okay with staying with the Autobots?" she asked. "If you'd rather go to the Decepticons or be on your own, I think it's only fair for us to allow you to make that choice." Not a single one wanted to leave the Autobots and Justice felt that that was a good decision.

"I bet the humans would be surprised to know some things about Cybertronians," said Echo. "My human would have been shocked to know that we don't really have genders and that the femme frame is simply that. It looks feminine to humans, but it's really just geared for a different function."

"Though it's fitting for Cybertronians that have female organic memories," said Mist.

"The human conception of sex doesn't apply either," said Dawn. "Cybertronians only mate with their sparks if they're compatible, despite the frame type."

"You have to be sparkmated before you can produce a sparkling though so at least there's a form of birth control," said Mist.

"I wouldn't expect any sparklings to be produced during the war," said Rain. "Whether sparked like we were by the Allspark or produced by two Cybertronians, a shell would be required and I'm sure supplies are short."

"I can certainly understand that," said Mist "Which is why I want to ask Ratchet about bonding?"

"Are you missing that base knowledge?" asked Night in concern.

"No, I get the process," said Mist. "I want to ask Ratchet who on the base already has a sparkmate. I don't want to step on any toes."

The femmes laughed at that.

"I see you have someone in mind already," said Night. "Leave it to the youngest to move the fastest."

xxxxx

Ratchet was sitting in the debriefing with all the top officers. He zoned out having been present for all the activities that occurred off the base. Optimus then briefly outlined what had happened when the Decepticons had attacked the Ark. Red Alert had located a dozen security risks that the mechs were currently working on shoring up. Finally it came to Ratchet's report about the new arrivals.

"They're in perfect condition for newly sparked femmes," said Ratchet. "The only abnormality is that they each have a different memory file for one of the six female humans that perished during our battle with the Decepticons."

"Is this going to cause a problem?" asked Optimus curiously.

"No, on the contrary it has actually helped them," said Ratchet. "They chose designations and altmodes before they even left the vault. They are fully acclimatized to Earth even more so than we are and they don't feel any lingering attachments to the former families in their memories. It's also made them more independent than most newly sparked protoforms and they are already familiar with me and the other mechs that were at the base."

"I'd like to speak with them if possible after this meeting," said Optimus.

"That's fine," said Ratchet. "As soon as they are assigned quarters, they are permitted to leave the med bay."

xxxxx

Ratchet headed to the med bay as soon as the meeting adjourned. When he entered, he heard laughter and his optics swept to the femmes that were huddled in a group. He made a sound like he was clearing his throat to get their attention.

"Optimus will be here to see you all in a little while," he said.

Mist promptly jumped down from where she was sitting on one of the berths and came over. "Ratchet, I have a question," she said. "Who on the Ark has a sparkmate?"

Ratchet blinked his optics twice taken aback by the question, but Mist simply gave him an inquisitive look. Across the bay the rest of the femmes watched him curiously. Had they really matured that much so fast, he wondered. "Optimus is bonded to Elita and Ironhide is bonded to Chromia," he finally replied.

"That's it?" asked Mist.

"Yes," he replied.

"Okay, just making sure," she said returning to the other femmes.

The door slid open and Optimus entered looking over to Ratchet first and then to the femmes. Night, the self appointed leader of the group, took a step forward in front of the others.

"Night, Echo, Rain, Justice, Mist and Dawn," he said addressing them by name. "My designation is Optimus Prime. I'd like to welcome you to the Ark. I'll have Prowl stop by and show you around the Ark as well as assign you your quarters. I'd like you to settle in first before you make any decisions."

"With all due respect sir," said Night. "All of us have already decided to join the Autobots if you'll have us. Our memory files indicate previous support for the Autobots be it through military or civilian means and we have made the conscious choice to continue with that."

"We'll need to be brought up to speed on the situation of course," said Rain. "We'll also need training the sooner the better."

"And weapons," added Paris. "Because right now all I've got at my disposal are these claws."

Optimus was surprised at their forwardness, but agreed to talk to his officers about starting their training. He told Ratchet to give them the Autobot symbol before they left.

While Ratchet was giving them their symbol, the femmes were talking amongst themselves about what they could contribute.

"With my armor, I'd make a good frontliner like the twins," said Night. "I have memories of being in plenty of fights, but I don't really have any special moves. Maybe I'll pick up something in training."

"My armors pretty thick," said Dawn. "But my memory files aren't a lot of help. I suppose I could learn to fight, but I'd also like to help others so maybe a field medic. That is if you'll train me Ratchet."

"I have two assistants right now," said Ratchet. "First Aid and Jolt. So between the three of us I'm sure we can accommodate you."

"If they need anyone for communications, I'll definitely volunteer," said Echo. "It's what I used to do and I'm pretty good at hacking."

"I'll fight wherever," said Justice. "But I'd also like to be on the security team as it looks like the Ark isn't up to the normal standards."

"It is still in the middle of being repaired femme," said Ratchet.

Justice snorted in response. "That's not really a good excuse for lax security."

Ratchet pulled a wrench from his subspace on reflex, but it suddenly disappeared from his hand. He turned around to find Rain behind him with an innocent look on her face. Then she smiled at him. He was almost certain that she had taken it, but she didn't have the wrench in her hands so he couldn't prove it. He frowned and she smiled wider.

"Well I've always been a common foot soldier," said Mist interrupting their standoff. "I don't see anything changing. What about you Rain?"

"Intelligence," she simply replied never looking away from Ratchet.

"By the way Ratchet," said Night pulling his attention. "I've got tons of experience in construction. If the mechs need a hand with the repairs, I'll volunteer."

"I have some experience as well," added Mist. "My memory files indicate that I worked with my creator building a dwelling when I was younger."

As the femmes chatted, Ratchet marveled at the speed at which they were progressing. Some of them referred to the memory files as their own while others simply referred to the files like resources. Regardless, they were continuing to make liberal use of them to boost their skill sets. He had to admit that it was much easier than having to teach the new femmes from scratch.

The med bay door slid open and Prowl walked in followed by Jazz. "Hello femmes," said Jazz.

"Hello Jazz," chorused most of the femmes.

"Ya'll ready to go? Prowl here will show you your room assignments and then I'll be taking you on a tour," he said.

Prowl led the way from the med bay and the femmes followed him out while Jazz brought up the rear. He went down two additional hallways before stopping. "Due to space considerations four of you will be sharing this room," said Prowl opening the door. It was a rather large room with four berths placed in the four corners. Each had a set of empty shelves over it.

Justice and Rain exchanged a glance. "Rain and I will volunteer to go else where," she said speaking up.

The other femmes were fine with that. Night had only been concerned about keeping an eye on the younger femmes, younger according to the memory files, and knew that Justice and Rain could handle themselves.

They walked down another two hallways until they reached a smaller room with two berths. This was to be Justice and Rain's room. After that, Prowl took them into his office and Jazz promptly disappeared. For the next two hours, Prowl read through some boring rules and regulations that the femmes needed to follow and explained the current state of their treaty with the humans. Mist was particularly interested in what could get you brig time and she managed to derail Prowl from his topics more than once. She even asked for examples so the femmes got to hear a few interesting stories about the misbehavior of the mechs on board. Rain had a few questions about the treaties with the humans, but Prowl simply directed her to Optimus. He then showed them how to find their schedules for the day and how to submit a report if they needed to. He also gave them access to the communal com-link system. When he was finished, Jazz suddenly reappeared.

"Now that all the boring stuff is over," he said. "Follow me." Jazz took them on a narrated tour of the Ark. He showed them the wash racks, training rooms, meeting rooms, rec room, security room and several others. While he was polite to any mech they encountered, he didn't stop to chat promising that they could meet them later on their own. He finally dropped them off at their rooms. "I think Prowl has scheduled you for training starting tomorrow," he said. "So I suggest you get some recharge before that. See ya later."

xxxxx

"I wonder how long it will take to repair this ship so we can leave," said Rain as she paced in the small room twirling the wrench she'd stolen from Ratchet. "I could probably help gather the supplies we need to speed up the repairs."

"You sound eager to leave Earth. Is there a reason for that?" asked Justice relaxing on her berth.

"The Decepticons are here because their enemy, which is us, is here and we have the Allspark shard," replied Rain as she sat and then reclined on her own bed. "Eliminate us from the equation and they should follow us into space. This would pull our war away from Earth and the amount of human blood on our hands would dissipate over time. You cannot be naïve enough to think that all humans are accepting of us. If we overstay our welcome, I fear what will come next from the humans. Establishing ties for a future cooperation aside, we need to start removing our presence."

"I see your point," said Justice. "Based on Sunstreaker's previous actions, not all the mechs here are human friendly and I'm all too familiar with the type of humans that make the Decepticons seem like saints, but I think the work I'll be able to do here should help me become who I want to be. It's all in the name after all."

"I'm sure that between the two of us, we have the resources to make a difference," said Rain.

"I've already agreed to go along with your plan as long as I'm not directly involved," said Justice. "However it will take time to come to fruition. There's no need to obsess over it. I think you've been infected by the Earthling's impatience."

"It's one of the few things I like about them," said Rain tossing the wrench up and catching it. "Some of them can get things done and get it done fast."

xxxxx

"I can't help but feel nervous about tomorrow," said Echo scrolling through the data pad Prowl had given her. "It's going to be like basic training all over again."

"I've never done any military training before," said Dawn settling onto her berth. "And now I've got to do both medical and regular training so I understand how you feel. My human memories are useless and I'm too big to even use the nursing skills I remember on humans."

"We're all in the same boat," said Night reassuringly. "Just remember that it's not a real battle so you get do overs until you get it right."

"I'm not worried about the training," said Mist. "I'm more interested in the mechs that will be training us. Do you think any of the ones we already met will be there?"

The other three groaned.

"Give it a rest lover bot," said Night. "Let's get some recharge."


	6. Chapter 6

The following morning after picking up their missing members they all met up in the training room. Ironhide was waiting for them there with Bumblebee and Springer.

"Oh, you're so young and cute," gushed Dawn after meeting Bumblebee.

Bumblebee scratched the back of his head embarrassed.

"Isn't he technically older than you?" asked Springer in confusion.

"That's beside the point," she replied. "Age is a state of processor."

"I don't get it," said Springer shaking his head.

Despite her earlier boisterous attitude, Mist acted completely shy around the new mechs. After her forward behavior in the med bay and her excitement about meeting new mechs, the other femmes could only wonder what she was planning.

Rain, Justice, Mist and Echo went through the basic sparring drills with Springer as they had some background in it while Night and Dawn started learning the basics with Bumblebee.

Optimus stepped in while they were busy. "How are they doing," he asked Ironhide over the private comm.

"Echo has the basics down, but it's obvious she never saw much fighting which is an entirely weird thing to be saying about a newly sparked youngling. Mist is a soldier and I'm sure she's capable of more. She's also very flexible and would probably make a good scout. Justice isn't as flexible and is more of a straightforward type of fighter, but she doesn't hit with the weight of a frontliner so weapons may be more her thing. Rain is keeping her real abilities close to her chest. She's as flexible as Mist and she was holding back against Springer the entire time, but I don't think he noticed. Dawn and Night are just getting the basics, but they both have a lot of power behind their hits. All six will probably become decent to amazing fighters," he said. "We're moving onto weapons next before they get split up for their own assignments."

"Keep me informed," said Optimus as he took his leave.

Weapons training came next and some of the femmes were more excited than the others. Echo was issued a blaster, a dagger and a sniper rifle. Ironhide paired her up with Bluestreak for practice. Based on both her personality and current ability, it was unlikely that they'd send her out into battle unless they needed to. Dawn got a detachable cannon that she could use even when she was transformed down into her armored SUV form. Something about the femme screamed power and force to Ironhide despite her caring nature. Night got two curved swords and a blaster. He would have to get either the twins or Wheeljack to help train her with the swords. Mist received a set of daggers and a blaster. She wasn't built for all out battle, but more for quick movement to the goal while defending herself. Justice was given a set of two blasters and she also requested a short sword. Rain claimed she needed her hands free for her work so she requested a blaster attachment for one of her forearms and a star shooter for the other. She also wanted a dagger, a short sword, a grapple and a belt of explosives. After hearing Rain's request, Mist also requested grenades and a grapple as well.

The group was then split up. Dawn was sent to the med bay to meet Ratchet's assistants and to get a field medic kit and supplies. Her lessons in the med bay would be starting today as well.

Echo and Justice went with Blaster and Inferno to learn the Teletran system as well as to become acquainted with the security systems on the Ark.

Ironhide had managed to pull Wheeljack from his lab long enough to start teaching Night how to most effectively use her swords. He stayed to watch over her progress.

Mist left with Bumblebee to learn some of his scouting techniques and that left Rain in the hands of Jazz. "So you wanna be in intelligence," said Jazz leaning on his left hand against the wall of the hallway.

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to," said Rain.

"I only accept the best so how about I give you a test," said Jazz. "There is a mech named Mirage that is part of my team. He has the ability to become completely invisible. If you can find him by the end of the day, I'll let you join my team."

"Okay," said Rain suddenly throwing Ratchet's wrench at the empty space next to Jazz in the hall. It collided with something solid that she couldn't see and she heard a grunt. Mirage flickered into view a minute later. "I found him. Sorry about the hit." She bent down to retrieve the wrench.

Jazz and Mirage exchanged a look.

"How did you know?" asked Jazz intrigued.

"Femmes' sixth sense," she said and laughed at their confused expressions. "I'm joking. Do you remember hanger four Jazz? I'm used to optical illusions besides there was that little detail of you leaning on your left hand in the hallway just now when from what I've observed you always lean on your right. Details matter."

"Right, you're in," said Jazz. "I expect you to meet me at my office tomorrow at 0900. See you then."

Rain left and immediately headed toward the science division. They had been warned about Wheeljack's propensity to make things explode, but he was tied up with Night's training right now. She arrived at the door just as Perceptor was stepping out. She introduced herself and made her request. To encourage his help she also mentioned that she had contacts outside that could help with supplies if they wanted to make a list. She made Perceptor promise to review anything that Wheeljack added though. In turn Perceptor promised her that what she wanted would be available by the end of the week.

Rain's next stop was the med bay, but only First Aid and Dawn were presently there. She reassured them she was okay and even allowed Dawn to practice a harmless procedure on her. She then asked First Aid to get with Ratchet to prepare a list of medical supplies they needed that could be found on Earth. She then asked First Aid who was in charge of repairing the Ark and he suggested talking to Grapple. She placed Ratchet's stolen wrench with the rest of his tools before she headed out. It had served her well so she was returning it.

She left the med bay and headed to the rec room where Grapple was supposed to be. The mechs he was having a conversation with were rather surprised when she jumped in and introduced herself. Grapple was highly receptive to her supply offer and promised to get her a list as soon as possible.

Rain left the rec room and headed back to her room finished with her business for the day.

xxxxx

Mirage walked into the office to see Jazz behind his desk with his legs propped up. "So what's the news on our new femme?" Jazz asked.

"She's back in her room right now, but she seems to have an agenda of her own," said Mirage. "She's already asked Perceptor to make her acid pellets for some reason and she's promised supplies to the science division, the medical division and the construction department. She's not shy when she wants something, but she doesn't tend to hang around others otherwise. It's still early, but we might have a lone wolf on our hands."

"Those types can be the most dangerous," said Jazz humming in thought. "But she's brand new sort of so maybe she just needs time to adjust."


	7. Chapter 7

Mist had spent a lot of time scouting with Bumblebee recently and they were coming in from training when they ran into the twins in the hall. Mist sighed internally. She had been running into the twins a lot recently. Most of the time she had someone else like one of the other femmes with her to help her deflect them, but she wasn't about to sacrifice Bumblebee. She motioned for Bumblebee to go ahead and he continued on passing the twins and heading to the wash racks. As soon as Bumblebee passed, Sideswipe braced one hand on the wall effectively blocking her path.

"Hey Misty," said Sideswipe. "What are you up to?"

"I just got back from training with Bee," she replied knowing full well that he already knew that.

"Well if you've got free time, how about coming with us to the rec room and hanging out," he said smiling widely.

Down the hall Mist saw Jazz and Prowl enter Prowl's office. "I would love to do that," she said returning his smile. "But I have to check in with Prowl first about some rule thing. Maybe I'll catch you there later." She quickly ducked under his arm before he could protest and was down the hall and into Prowl's office before Sideswipe could straighten. She shut his door quickly.

Prowl looked up from where he was reviewing data pads at his desk. Jazz was on the guest chair with his feet propped up on the corner of Prowl's desk drinking an energon cube.

"Can I help you with something Mist?" asked Prowl.

"Apologies, I'm simply using your office as a temporary hiding spot from the twins," said Mist.

"The younger or the older set?" asked Jazz.

"The older," she replied. "They can be pretty persistent and I'd rather not end up on their bad side."

"Do you want me to say something to them?" asked Prowl. "They shouldn't be harassing you."

"I appreciate it, but no," said Mist. "It'll only make the situation worse and I don't want to become pranking target number one."

"If you didn't purposely pretend to be so demure, they would probably move on to one of the other femmes," said Prowl looking back down at his data pads.

Mist simply pouted at his response.

"Why are you doing that?" asked Jazz in surprise. Mist had always come across as a shy naive femme. He was surprised that she was acting and more surprised that Prowl had seen through it when he hadn't.

"It's a psychological tactic," explained Mist. "The less personality I display, the more the other bot tends to exaggerate theirs in order to subconsciously overlay mine. It's a good way to grasp the more extreme parts of a bot's personality faster. I've learned a lot about the mechs on this ship in a very short time period."

"Interesting," said Jazz.

"Unfortunately, it has backfired in this case," said Mist. "I didn't expect the twins to be so persistent even though I think it's mostly Sideswipe. If I started courting someone, do you think they'd back off?"

"Only if you were serious about it," said Jazz. "Otherwise they might see it as an invitation."

"Are you seeing anyone Prowl?" asked Mist. "I mean romantically?"

Jazz had been recrossing his ankles on the desk when she asked and he lost his balance toppling to the floor. Both Prowl and Mist looked over at him. "I was not expecting that," said Jazz laughing. "And I can assure you that he's not."

"I can answer my own questions Jazz," said Prowl.

"I know I'm new and you don't know me very well and for that matter even with Patricia's memories, I don't know you all that well either, but I'm still drawn to you," said Mist.

"To be fair to Prowl," said Jazz returning to his seat. "You're not doing this solely to get away from the twins, are you?"

"Certainly not," said Mist. "Prowl, if you'd like, we can start small. Get some energon together sometime in the rec room or your office for that matter. Whatever you're comfortable with. Do you accept my proposal?"

"I'll accept those terms," said Prowl and a surprised Jazz nearly fell off his chair again.

"That's great," said Mist smiling widely. "I'll see you around then." She opened his door and stuck her head out peering down the hall. When she saw no sign of the twins, she took off.

"I was not expecting that from you Prowler," said Jazz. "Why did you agree?"

"It's Prowl," he replied. "And I'm simply getting to know her like she suggested nothing more."

"Yea, but you'll have a problem if she turns serious if she isn't already," said Jazz. "Do you actually feel anything when you're with her?"

"The urge to protect," said Prowl returning to his data pad.

"Well, that's a start," said Jazz.

xxxxx

In the rec room Dawn sat on one of the sofas surrounded by younglings and the majority of Blaster's cassettes. Bluestreak, Bumblebee, Skids and Mudflap had instantly taken to her. It wasn't unusual to see one of them snuggling up to her. Even Skids and Mudflap would forgo fighting in her presence in favor of either listening or telling stories. Blaster's mini-cassettes while much more mature than the younglings also seemed to be magnetically drawn to her. Blaster didn't have to go far to find them when they went missing. Many a mech would also seek her out for advice and Dawn didn't seem to mind rather she thrived surrounded by so many. It was odd for them to think that she was younger than them all when her personality could only be described as nurturing. Most mechs figured that was the reason why she was also a medic and they definitely preferred her bedside manner to Ratchet's.

Echo was in the rec room too. She was quiet and polite for one so social. Most of the time the conversations she was drawn into ended with her saying very little, but most the mechs appreciated the receptive audio she provided. It didn't hurt that Echo was an extremely attractive femme, but she seemed oblivious to the fact so she subconsciously friend zoned any mech that attempted to court her without realizing it. She had done just that to Jazz earlier that week. Though he assumed that it was partly his own fault since she had Mattie's memories of him flirting with her beautiful coworker. She probably didn't realize that he could be interested in her.

Mist joined the group later like she promised. She waved at Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, but was lost in the crowd when Dawn snagged her.

Night, Wheeljack and Ironhide were sitting along the counter discussing sword skills and that caught the attention of the twins. Night excused herself to go talk to Echo.

"I've got blades too," said Sideswipe interrupting Ironhide's conversation. "Do you think I could spar with her sometime?"

"Maybe in a week or two," said Ironhide. "And then only in my presence, she's catching on quickly, but she's still brand new to this."

Wheeljack nodded his head in agreement.

"What are you planning?" Sunstreaker asked Sideswipe over the bond.

"I'm not planning anything," said Sideswipe. "Don't pretend you don't have questions for her too. I've simply created an opening for us. Nothing is going to get resolved if we never talk to her."

xxxxx

"So why Prowl?" asked Echo as she sat on her berth across from Mist. All the femmes knew she was courting him now. "Sure he's the SIC, but what do you find attractive about him?"

Mist just gave her a look.

"I didn't mean to say that he's unattractive," said Echo placatingly. "I was simply wondering what you like about him."

"He's responsible," said Mist immediately. "He's smart, logical and he's not about to run off like some of the other immature mechs and cause unnecessary problems. I don't need a mech that thinks he has to showboat to get my attention. It's his everyday actions that make him so attractive. The twins would be an example of someone on the opposite end of the spectrum, but I suppose they can afford to mess around a little since they're so tough."

"Oh," said Echo. "I didn't think of that, but you're definitely right about that. I guess I'd want someone more like that as well."

"Well too bad because he's mine," said Mist.

They both broke out in laughter.


	8. Chapter 8

Dawn placed several cubes of energon in her subspace before she headed to Wheeljack's lab. Wheeljack was known for his explosions, but he was also known for being a brilliant scientist that routinely came through for the Autobots. Dawn knew that brilliant scientists often had quirks and she'd been witness to the unfortunate results of Wheeljack's time and again. Ratchet, who was an old friend of his, was always yelling at him for not taking the proper precautions when he ended up in the med bay. Since it was at the frequency of about once a week, Dawn had already gained experience in patching him up so she was already familiar with his systems. It had at least provided her practical experience and a break from her learning curriculum. She was currently headed to his lab because he had recently been released from med bay and both Ratchet and First Aid had revealed that he often forgot to take his energon when he was working. So she was bringing him his energon since she was off shift and she didn't want to see him in the med bay so soon again. When she arrived at the lab, the blast door was up so she entered cautiously. She was immediately greeted by Perceptor and Skyfire and she offered them some energon. They accepted and told her that Wheeljack was in the back when she inquired.

Wheeljack didn't notice her approach because he was too focused on interlocking small metal parts together to form his experiment. If he felt the tingle of the telltale medical scan, he didn't give any indication. He only acknowledged her when she reached out and stroked one of his more sensitive wires. Wheeljack jumped and turned to see her.

"That's what it took to get your attention," said Dawn smiling. "I was calling you, but apparently you didn't hear or did you turn your audios off?"

Wheeljack sputtered an apology. "What are you doing here?" he asked in confusion.

"According to First Aid and Ratchet, you have this horrible condition that makes you forget to take your energon," teased Dawn. "It's apparently true since I scanned you just now and your levels are low."

Wheeljack looked sheepish as she passed him an energon cube and watched while he drank it.

"That's better," said Dawn running another scan on him. "I'll drop by occasionally to keep an optic on you. It will only exacerbate your injuries if you're low on energon when you sustain them."

Wheeljack nodded obediently and walked her to the front of the lab. After she left, he turned to Perceptor and Skyfire. "I think we need to add a small blast proof room to the lab so others that come to visit will still be safe." Perceptor and Skyfire looked at him like he'd grown another head. "You don't agree?"

"That's an excellent idea," said Perceptor finally.

xxxxx

Justice prowled the Ark noting all the problems with the security and continuing to compile a list of the breaches. She nodded politely at the Autobots she passed by, but didn't stop to talk. She'd gone to the rec room enough with the other femmes, but she wasn't all too keen on having to constantly mingle with the other Autobots. She already knew all their names and what they looked like from the security data and she knew she'd be with them for a long time. Eventually, she would come to know everyone on the ship personally so there was no need to rush. When Rain had free time, she'd accompany her on her walks sometimes. Her boss Red Alert was one paranoid bot, but he was generally right about the weaknesses the Ark had. It was not meant to be a base. It was meant to be a ship and a ship on the ground amounted to one big security risk. Justice could see the validity in Rain's earlier argument. This ship needed to leave the ground the sooner the better.

xxxxx

In order to get to Prowl, Mist needed to get around Jazz. The two of them were old friends apparently so she couldn't just tell Jazz to shove off. Plus Jazz was TIC so he had a legitimate reason to be there. She'd gotten into the habit of dropping in on Prowl occasionally, but since Jazz was usually with him, she started bringing two extra energon cubes instead of one. Sure the conversation flowed easier with Jazz there and she had learned some things about Prowl she probably wouldn't have otherwise, but nothing serious could happen if they weren't alone. Mist was starting to feel frustrated and she was seriously rethinking her courting request. She knew Prowl was busy, but sometimes she felt that it wouldn't matter if she was there or not. It was difficult to pick up on the mech's emotions, but she'd spent enough time observing him to pick up on his small cues. Maybe what they needed was more time, but unfortunately Mist wasn't a very patient femme. If things didn't change soon, she fully intended to break the courtship. She would have to fend off other offers in the meantime, but it would give her the opportunity to see if Prowl wanted to reinitiate it himself or if he just wasn't interested. Mist headed off to meet Night and help with the reconstruction of the Ark. She needed to blow off some serious steam.

xxxxx

Rain had run a few spec ops scenarios with the other members of the team. It was interesting and it was something she could easily accomplish, but it really didn't hold her interest. She wanted to get out there and practice in the field. Training was one thing and she knew it needed to be ingrained, but spec ops was all about spontaneously thinking on your feet. Jazz knew she could do it, but she could tell that he was loath to put a youngling with no experience in the field. Rain couldn't even blame him because under other circumstances she would completely agree with him. So for now she used her contacts on the outside to procure what they needed for the Ark. She also set up what she knew she would need if she got exiled from the Ark once she activated her plan. She wasn't planning on doing anything too bad, but you never know how the bots in command would react.


	9. Chapter 9

The femmes had only been at the Ark for three weeks when the first Decepticon attack came. All the femmes as well as Ironhide, Mirage and Blurr were outside the Ark at the time. They were in the middle of training the femmes on how best to utilize their altmodes as well as showing them the revised patrol route. The twins who were out on patrol weren't far from them when Bumblebee's distress call came over the comm. Bumblebee had Sam and Carly with him and he was being attacked.

The Autobots could see Bumblebee in the distance as well as the Decepticon hoard behind him that was headed their way. Ironhide alerted the base and transformed readying his cannons. Mirage faded from view and drove off to get a better advantage. Ironhide told Blurr to round up the femmes and send them back to the base, but they were already on the move.

Dawn was already driving straight toward Bumblebee. Her cannon was out and ready on her altmode. A shot from her cannon blew up a large sand dune that Bumblebee had just passed sending sand and dust into the air. This provided cover for Bumblebee and he raced past her on his way to the Ark. She quickly turned to follow and friendly fire shot past her hitting the Decepticons on her tail.

Ironhide was busy engaging the enemy, but he couldn't help marvel at the configuration four of the femmes had arranged themselves in. Echo, Justice, Rain and Mist had their blasters out and they were firing simultaneously at each target. This guaranteed that their target was hit by several shots at once. After each shot, they would scatter so that the return fire from the airborne Decepticons would have less chance of hitting their moving forms. Then they would fire simultaneously again from their new position before scattering once again. When cover fire was needed, the four would split into twos allowing for coverage of more than one mech.

Dawn was furious that the Decepticons had tried to harm Bumblebee and his human friends. Her frame was literally shaking in anger and the thought of heading to safety never even crossed her mind. She had rapidly transformed and was currently firing her cannon at anything that looked like a Decepticon. One of the Autobots shot down Starscream, but he was up on his feet soon after. Before he could shoot Blurr in the back, Dawn smashed into him whaling away for all she was worth. It didn't take long for him to lose a wing and he made a quick retreat as the crazed femme started smashing up another Con.

Sideswipe took a bad hit which made Sunstreaker retreat to cover his twin. Three Decepticons stalked toward them thinking them easy prey. Sunstreaker growled and his eyes flashed red. Suddenly Night appeared next to the twins. She handed Sideswipe her blaster and unsheathed her swords. Together Night and Sunstreaker advanced against the Decepticons with Sideswipe providing backup cover. Between Sunstreaker's protective mode activating and Night's determination to protect her own, the Decepticons in their way that didn't run were reduced to slag.

With the twins grounded, Rain took to the skies by hitting a Decepticon in helicopter mode with her grapple gun. She swung freely on the line using her position to start raining fire down on any Decepticons below before disengaging the rope from above. She landed on the ground on her feet the sand cushioning the impact and she looked up to see the grapple that was still attached to the Decepticon explode sending the mech crashing to the ground.

Mist followed Rain's lead and sent her grapple up hitting Thundercracker. He flipped and turned trying to knock her off the line, but she held on until she was close enough to toss a grenade. The grenade magnetized to Thundercracker's wing and exploded sending him plummeting toward the ground. Skywarp was forced to warp his trine mates away to safety. Mist called out to Justice who was below as she started to fall, but the one to catch her was Optimus Prime instead. Megatron had not made an appearance this time, but that did not stop Optimus from joining the battle especially when he heard that the new femmes were out there.

"Thanks Optimus," said Mist before running off to join Justice and Echo who were still firing in tandem.

Springer and a few of the wreckers had joined Dawn at the front giving her a much-needed break. She turned back toward the base just in time to see Rain offline the Decepticon in front of her. Rain went to one knee for a moment and Dawn quickly ran a scan over her. Assistance wasn't necessary because Rain regained her footing and went to join the other femmes a moment later. Dawn started heading toward the Ark stopping and helping injured Autobots as she found them.

Eventually all the Decepticons that remained online fled and only the casualties of the battle remained.

There were a few serious injuries, but none of the Autobots had fallen in this battle. The medics were already scurrying around carrying in injured mechs and applying patches. Other than dents and scratches none of the femmes were injured so they returned to their quarters with the exception of Dawn who went to help in the med bay. Bumblebee caught her on her way, thanking her for the cover and expressing worry over the state of her armor.

"It's okay Bee," said Dawn patting his shoulder reassuringly. "My armor is really thick so the damage is only external. I promise. I did a scan on myself on the way back in just to make sure."

"What in the pit happened to you?" was Ratchet's question when she entered the med bay.

"I had a disagreement with some Cons," said Dawn. "I'm fine. It's cosmetic. What have you got for me?"

"You should have seen her rip Starscream's wing off," said Ironhide from one berth. "I've never been so proud of a new student."

"I keep telling you that she belongs with the wreckers," said Springer from where he was being repaired by First Aid.

"My question is who taught the femmes to go flying?" said Mirage looking suspiciously at the twins.

"We haven't taught them anything," said Sideswipe putting his hands up defensively. "They did that all on their own. It was pretty cool though. Maybe we could give them some pointers."

"You will definitely not," said Ratchet shaking a wrench at him threateningly.

xxxxx

The main med bay was filled with recharging recuperating mechs. The secondary med bay was currently filled with femmes that Ratchet had dragged out of their quarters so he could assess their damage for himself. Jolt was there assisting him. Mist, Justice, Echo and Rain were largely unscathed except for scratches and small dents. Night had the most damage as she'd strained one of her arms. Despite the excessive dents and damage to Dawn's outer armor, she was completely unharmed.

"That's probably going to take awhile to fix," said Night looking over at Dawn.

"Both Ironhide and Wheeljack offered to help with the repairs," said Dawn. "Once they get out of med bay that is." Wheeljack was in the med bay from one of his experiments unlike Ironhide who got wounded in battle.

"I heard you've been bringing Wheeljack his energon lately," said Ratchet to Dawn. "It's not safe for you to go into the lab so often."

"You know that Wheeljack neglects his own needs when he's involved in a project. You even told me so," said Dawn. "That's not healthy so I decided to step in. Besides, Perceptor and Skyfire told me that they're all constructing a small blast proof room so that other bots can visit the lab without worrying. They said it was Wheeljack's idea."

"He finally decided to build something useful," said Ratchet raising an eye ridge. He was almost positive the room wouldn't be getting built if not for the femme in question.

"Say Ratchet," said Mist suddenly. "Where can I find information on Praxian frames?"

"Why do you need to know that?" asked Ratchet.

"I want to know where the sensitive spots are," said Mist.

"Are you trying to find weak spots to attack?" asked Jolt.

"Oh no, I'm courting a Praxian," said Mist. "It's for personal use."

Jolt couldn't look any more embarrassed and this set the other femmes giggling.

"I'll send you the file," said Ratchet shaking his head. "I'm done here. I need to have a word with Rain, but the rest of you have an appointment with Smokescreen."

All the femmes filed out except a placid looking Rain. She looked at him expectantly and Jolt suddenly excused himself and headed to the main med bay.

"Dawn said you nearly went down out there," Ratchet said gently. "She scanned you at the time and determined you were having a spark attack. Stress during your first battle was the likely cause. Will you tell me what happened?"

"Yes I'll admit it. I had a spark attack," said Rain bluntly. "But it was not because of battle stress."

"What caused it?" asked Ratchet in concern.

"I had a spark call with a Decepticon and we both felt it," she said. "I used his hesitation to offline him before he could do the same. My spark went into shock for a moment after, but it was only a momentary setback."

Ratchet looked taken aback for a moment. "I'm sorry," he said looking down and away from her.

Rain quickly cut him off. "There's no reason to be. Our sparks were compatible, but my processor and my survival instincts rule this body not my spark. You didn't forget about the memories that I carry, did you? This was not my first battle or the first lives I've taken. It makes no difference that the others were human. Besides this wasn't my first spark call. It's just the first one that was somewhat reciprocated."

Ratchet didn't seem to know how to respond to her admission.

"Will this issue make me more disposed to spark attacks?" Rain finally asked.

"No," said Ratchet snapping himself out of his thoughts. "You've had a spark call with someone here?" he then added.

Rain sighed. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're really nosy?" she said.

Ratchet huffed.

"To answer your question," she said. "It's happened more than once for the same mech since I've been here. He's not bonded, but either he doesn't even consider me a possibility or he's clueless."

"Staying near someone you have a spark call with can be beneficial to your spark," said Ratchet. "It reduces the chances of a spark attack from recurring for any reason."

"So you're giving me permission to jump the mech," said Rain smiling mischievously.

Ratchet snorted. "Certainly not, but there's no reason you can't spend time with the mech."

"I'd love to, but it's complicated," said Rain looking away. "Most of you mechs are a lot older than us so who knows if you have somebody waiting for you to return on Cybertron. Plus it would only cause a distraction for both him and I and I don't want to interfere with his work. It's too important."

Ratchet wasn't happy with her decision, but let her head to Smokescreen regardless. Unless it was medical, interfering with matters of the spark wasn't his job.

The other femmes had each had a conversation with Smokescreen about the battle that took place. It was standard procedure to assess all Autobots after their first battle. His assessment of Mist was that she was currently obsessed with Prowl. The session had almost turned from the battle into a courting advice session. She had figured that since he was Praxian like Prowl, he would know what to do to get his attention. He had to turn her attention back to the battle several times, but she seemed to naturally take to her assignment as a soldier and she wasn't shy about trying new tactics on the battlefield. Regimen was good, but apparently whatever works best was better.

Echo was as polite as usual with that quiet intelligence hidden just under the surface. She hadn't come into physical contact with the enemy much and had relied on coordinating with the other femmes. Both Echo and Mist had experienced battle before and were already acclimatized.

Dawn was the motherly one who cared about others more than her own well being, but she was also a femme with a strong personality, which had led to her explosive uncontrolled actions against the Decepticons. It was a little like the twin's gladiator mode, but not as severe. It was more like a creator's protective mode actually. Luckily Dawn's armor was so thick that she'd received very little damage to herself. She didn't have any reservations about ripping into more Decepticons if they threatened again. According to her, it was simply something that needed to be done in order to protect the others.

Night was the most straightforward one of the femmes and she told it like it was. She was less confident in her fighting skills, but wouldn't hesitate to step in and protect the others as she had the twins.

Justice was Smokescreen's current problem. Three separate times during his conversation with her, she had managed to get him to talk about himself. Even when he had pointed this out to her, she had feigned innocence suggesting that maybe he needed to talk with someone for once and that she'd be willing to listen. As he once again caught himself starting into one of his own stories that didn't have any relevance for her, he realized in dismay that her manipulative skills were greater than his own.

"Did Paris study psychology?" Smokescreen asked suddenly.

His question caught Justice off guard for a moment and then she laughed unexpectedly. "I'm not sure how much you understand about humans," she said. "But many of their skills are learned by life experience and to answer your question, Paris studied language not psychology though I suppose sociology goes hand in hand with languages."

"Do you find it hard separating her experiences from your own?" he asked.

"My experiences are my own," said Justice. "What her memories provides me with is the clarity of how alike we are to humans and how different. They're a far greater resource than you might expect."

"Does your designation have something to do with her memories?" he asked. "Are you seeking justice for something?"

Justice actually laughed at that startling him. "I didn't think my designation would be taken so literal," she said. "That's not it at all. After all, haven't you heard that justice is blind?" He'll probably have to go look that saying up, she thought smugly as she walked out of his office. She winked at Rain as she passed by. "I may have stirred him up a bit," she said over the private comm.

"As long as you had fun," came Rain's reply.

For the most part Rain gave dry logical answers to Smokescreen's questions so much so that he felt like he was talking to Prowl at one point. Several of the command staff had asked him to include certain questions despite his sessions being confidential.

"I've noticed you've become an unsolicited source of supplies for the Ark. Care to share why?" he asked.

"The Ark needs to be repaired so it can leave. I'm sure if we leave, the Decepticons will as well if they want the shard. There are several bonded mechs aboard who probably want to see their sparkmates or friends for that matter. I for one have never seen anything but Earth and wouldn't mind seeing what's out there. I don't see how hastening any of this is a problem," she said.

"It's not a problem," said Smokescreen. "But where are you getting your supplies?"

"Audrey," said Rain.

"What do you mean?" asked Smokescreen.

"Audrey had an inheritance of 374 million dollars when she died," said Rain. "With no heir, all that money was transferred to charities so that the government didn't get their hands on it. Many human institutions were helped, but there was also a charity called RFVE. It's official and has a well-paid managing CEO who does absolutely nothing but deflect governmental and public inquiries. RFVE stands for Relief For Visiting Extraterrestrials. It's perfectly legit."

Smokescreen burst out laughing.

"Feel free to share this information with the others if you want," she said.

"What about your growing weapon collection?" he asked changing topics.

"I like to be prepared," she said.

"You're starting to sound as paranoid as Red Alert," he said.

"I'm not imagining threats and though my roommate's was personal and mine was professional, we've seen what's out there in the dark. Being prepared allowed us to survive. It's as simple as that."

Smokescreen couldn't think of a single thing to say to that.


	10. Chapter 10

Mist was on a mission. It had been several days since the Decepticon attack and she hadn't seen Prowl since before then as she'd been too busy covering shifts for injured mechs. Today she was going to see him and she was resolved in her decision. Either something was going to change or she was going to break the courtship today. She hadn't made any real progress with Prowl other than conversation and company, which she did enjoy, but it wasn't enough. Prowl seemed to enjoy her company as well from the small signals she was getting better at reading. She activated the door and stepped into Prowl's office when it opened. Luckily Jazz wasn't there today. She was relieved because whatever happened good or bad, she needed the third wheel out of the way. She let the door close and it autolocked behind her. By just glancing at him, she could tell that he wasn't happy and that nearly derailed her plan. The way he was holding his wings so stiffly was a big give away. She gently set down a cube of energon on his desk. He was holding onto one of the last data pads for the day, but he wasn't reading it. So instead of sitting down in his guest chair and facing him head on, she went around behind him. She had devoured the information Ratchet had provided her about his frame and she gently set her hands down on his door wings. She started gently rubbing his door wings. Gently tracing the wires and sensors that connected his wings to his frame. Prowl couldn't help but release a purr as some of the stress ebbed away and his frame started to relax automatically.

"You seem agitated," said Mist dropping her voice an octave. "Am I the cause?"

Prowl tried to straighten, but he was fighting a losing battle against the constant soothing touch on his wings. "I heard about your actions on the battlefield," he said. "I'd be remiss if they didn't worry me especially after your flying stunt. Optimus told me how he caught you during the battle."

"I came out uninjured, but perhaps I went a little overboard," she admitted. "But I'm new and I sort of felt the need to prove that I was a competent soldier. I know that most mechs here don't view me like that yet. It's just so different here and way too lenient for an army. I'm so used to being given a job and there was no excuse if you didn't complete it correctly and on time. I've never had the luxury of sitting back and taking it easy. If you had free time, you'd be training. If something needed to be done, it was get it done now and do it right the first time. I figured that if Rain could do it, then so could I. Every soldier knows that you have to learn while you're in battle not just in training or you don't survive. I apologize for worrying you, but I only wanted to help and we didn't have any other air support."

"I understand, but I'd prefer if you'd use more caution in the future," said Prowl. "I was needed here and could not reach you during the battle so my protective protocols tried to interfere with my logic circuits."

Mist suddenly came around and sat on the arm of his chair so she could see his face. One hand still stroked the wing closest to her. "I'm sorry if I caused you trouble," she said frowning. "It wasn't my intention to get in the way of your work. I don't want to, but if my presence is causing you problems, I can limit the time I spend with you. It would hurt me deeply, but we can call off the courtship if needed. I'm well aware that we can't win this war if I'm not on the field and you're not at your optimum in tactical," she said turning her head away and venting.

"I was worried yes, but it did not interfere with my battle computer," said Prowl clasping Mist's free hand. "I would prefer to keep this courtship unless breaking it is something you desire."

"Of course not," said Mist gazing back at him. A surge of happiness went through her spark. She was so happy that Prowl actually wanted to keep the courtship and that he wasn't simply humoring her.

Mist's wandering hand found a particularly sensitive wire on his wing that caused Prowl's arm to clutch Mist's waist reflexively as his whole frame shivered. He wasn't shivering in pain either. A powerful spark call hit them both quite suddenly and Prowl reflexively pulled her toward him. Mist slipped off the arm of his chair to straddle him. Prowl's other hand found a hold on her back and he instinctively pulled her closer aligning their sparks. Prowl's spark pushed against his chest plates trying to connect to Mist's spark that was separated by hardly any distance now.

"Do you wish to continue?" asked Prowl desperately trying to restrain his spark.

"Yes please," whispered Mist softly into his audio moving slightly as if to get closer to him.

Both their chest panels retracted and the light from their sparks intertwined.

Mist reached out with so much desire and need that Prowl's original thought of forming a protective creator bond with her vanished as if it had never been thought of. Lost in the light that was Prowl, Mist reveled in the feeling as his freed fountain of emotion flowed through her. For too long, his battle computer and logic circuits had stemmed the tide, but now he had an outlet and a more than willing one at that. Prowl on the other hand was surprised to discover a being that was more disciplined and logical than she outwardly appeared. She was friendly with everyone, but so very guarded internally and she had been searching for someone since her creation with which to share the emotions that were now mingling with his.

Beautiful bright blue optics stared back into his and her white paint looked startlingly bright against his black as they aligned frame and spark. Her spark called and his answered again and again. Waves of pleasure erupted over their sparks and their sparks reached out to form the sparkmate bond that was only logical. Even after their chest plates closed, Prowl held her cuddled against him her helm tucked into the side of his neck.

Finally, Prowl subspaced the energon cube on his desk and picked Mist up in a princess carry.

"Where are we going?" she asked over the newly formed bond.

"You have roommates so the only logical choice would be my quarters," said Prowl. "I've already sent notices to excuse your absence from training so there is nothing for you to worry about."

"So thorough, that's just another reason why I love you," said Mist nuzzling him.

They made it to Prowl's quarters without being interrupted and Mist didn't leave for two days straight.

xxxxx

Jazz snuck into the meeting right before it began.

"Jazz," said Optimus acknowledging him.

"I'm also filling in for Prowl who is otherwise detained," said Jazz.

"I just got out of the med bay," said Ironhide raising an eye ridge. "The twins only left an hour ago. Did they get caught up in trouble already?"

"Erm, actually Prowl is sequestered in his room with his new sparkmate," said Jazz.

The whole room lapsed into complete silence.

"With who?" came the resounding question.

"With Mist," said Jazz.

"How did that happen?" asked Ratchet clearly surprised. "The femme's barely been here for a month. I knew she was courting a Praxian, but I didn't know it was Prowl."

"Well I was in Prowl's office when she basically walked in and confessed and that was over two weeks ago," said Jazz. "Courageous little thing. What happened between then and now I don't know, but it must have been significant because Prowl was considering forming a creator bond with her. It looks like things took a different turn."

"I'll say," said Ironhide snorting in amusement.

"Sparkmates are highly possessive of each other for the first couple of days," said Ratchet. "It'll probably be another day before they come out."

xxxxx

The rec room wasn't as crowded as usual since security was heightened and there were plenty of mechs still recovering from the battle. Rain preferred it that way even though she found herself sandwiched between Sideswipe and Sunstreaker at a table drinking high grade with Red Alert on the other side and Sam reclining on a cooler on the table. When she had heard that Sam and Carly were going to be visiting for a while, she had ordered some supplies for them, supplies that included alcohol. The cooler that Sam was sitting on was full of cold beer while the wine and hard liquor had been left in his room. Rain was currently explaining Mist's bonding to whoever was listening. She was definitely feeling energized already.

"Mist basically busted into his office and nailed him," she said.

Sideswipe nearly spilled his energon when she said that and there was the sound of another mech sputtering from behind her.

"I'm sorry for you two, but if you act more stiff like Prowl, maybe you'll get a sparkmate too," said Rain patting Sideswipe's arm sympathetically.

"No way," said Sideswipe and Sunstreaker shook his head emphatically at the idea.

"She's technically the youngest, but she was the first to make a move. Makes me feel like a middle-aged bot past my prime. Maybe I'll get a few cybercats and become a recluse," said Rain.

"You have cybercats?" asked Sam in interest. He knew about the mini-cassettes, but they were more like small bots than animals.

"No idea," said Rain. "I've never been to Cybertron, remember? Oh, I should probably apologize to you because I happen to know that Carly is hanging out with Dawn. By the time you get back to the room, they'll have planned a second wedding so you can renew your vows, your future house will be picked out and decorated and all your future children will be named and she might even have named some of your grandchildren."

Sam spit out the beer he was drinking at that and Sideswipe cackled in glee.

"Say Red Alert," said Rain turning to him. "I was thinking about some new security measures. I thought about rigging the vents with explosives, but the Cons could just set them off so instead we need drones in the vents with cameras. The outside vent covers should be booby-trapped, but we should warn the cassettes in case they try to go in them. We also need a bunch of those human grade flying remote control drones too. The government doesn't regulate those and we could use them to cut down on patrols and maybe drop grenades on unsuspecting Cons if they show up."

Sunstreaker snorted at her ideas, but Red Alert was bobbing his head up and down enthusiastically as if agreeing with her.

"Yea, you can use those drones like in Star Wars where they pop their heads out of the ground and look around," said Sam excitedly. "Kind of like prairie dogs, but cooler."

Inferno and Ratchet walked into the rec room just then. Red was starting to tip over when Inferno came over with his energon and pushed him back upright. Both Rain and Sideswipe giggled at that.

"Who the heck gave you high grade?" said Ratchet from behind her.

"Oh, hello Socket," said Rain.

Sideswipe and the other mechs burst into laughter. Sam was laughing so hard he fell off his seat.

"It's Ratchet," said Ratchet shaking his head in dismay. "Femme, answer the question."

"Right. I invoke my right to remain silent mostly because I don't remember," said Rain looking at her cube curiously. "So this is high grade, huh, I guess that's why it tasted stronger than usual."

Night walked into the rec room just then and both twins got up quickly and approached her at the counter. Inferno was helping Red Alert back to his room and Ratchet started lecturing Sam on the dangers of drinking too much. That gave Rain ample cover to sneak out unnoticed.

xxxxx

The twins sat on either side of her. Sideswipe had offered her some high grade, but she declined preferring to stick with her regular grade.

"I'm glad you're up and about," said Night to Sideswipe.

"Can we ask you something?" asked Sideswipe over the private comm.

Night nodded her head.

"It's about Esperanza," said Sideswipe tentatively. He seemed reluctant to continue and Night raised an eye ridge.

"Well you see," started Sideswipe. "She was one of the few humans we had any repeated interaction with and we were wondering what she thought about us."

"We failed to protect her and any other human on that base," said Sunstreaker. "If she blamed us for what happened, it would have been her right. She probably hated us and we didn't have a chance to make it right."

"And only you know what she was actually thinking then," said Sideswipe.

"Esperanza never hated you," said Night laughing. "She understood you only had each other. She was human and she hated that limitation because unlike her boys there was nothing she could do for you two. For all the fights, you two never hurt any of her employees and for that she was very grateful. She never blamed you not even at the end. That was the Decepticon's fault 100%. She knew the risk of associating with the military and she accepted it. One of her last thoughts was I hope the twins gave them hell."

The twins were silent on either side of her seemingly lost in thought.

"Don't think too hard or you might hurt yourself," said Night standing. "If it makes you feel any better, she left four grown children, five grandchildren and one great grandchild behind so her legacy continues. They, after all, were her hope." She put a gentle hand comfortingly on both their shoulders. "When you're fully recovered, spar with me sometime. I have a feeling I'll be on the frontline more often. See you mechs later."

"Is it wrong if I kind of like her?" Sideswipe asked Sunstreaker over the bond.

Sunstreaker made a humming noise not sure what he was feeling. "We do owe her for having our backs in the last battle. We need to make sure she's better trained."


	11. Chapter 11

Rain bumped into Smokescreen in the hall almost literally.

"Someone's been in the high grade," said Smokescreen as she stumbled to the side. "Do you need an escort back to your room?"

"I thought you were going to play cards with the others. Rumor has it you even invited Justice to play," said Rain giggling. "I won't be coming back to my room tonight so good luck." She patted Smokescreen sloppily on the shoulder and then rushed off down the hall leaving him speechless.

Justice came walking down the hall on patrol. She had just seen Rain run away from Smokescreen leaving him blocking the middle of the hallway. She came up behind him quietly. "Did she turn you down?" she asked.

Smokescreen literally jumped at her voice. He couldn't help but wonder if Rain had just set him up.

"Are you all right?" asked Justice in genuine concern.

"Sorry," he said quickly as he turned to face her. "I'm fine. I was simply distracted and there's nothing going on between me and Rain."

"Okay, if you say so," said Justice. "If you don't mind, can I get by?"

"Sure," said Smokescreen stepping to the side.

Justice stepped around him and headed down the hall. Smokescreen watched her until she disappeared down another corridor and then put a hand on his head. He needed to watch out for those two femmes. The two together were a troublesome duo even if they were far subtler about it than the twins.

xxxxx

Optimus sighed. He had several data pads of new government agreements and regulations to go through before he could recharge. He opened his office door to see the back of his chair. It suddenly rotated and Rain sat looking at him from behind his own desk. "Can I help you Rain?" he asked confused.

"Jazz always said if you wanted to make it big, you had to take on the big boss," she said. "So infiltration complete and I believe it's the reverse. I will be helping you. Hand over the data pads with the government agreements and I will give you your chair back. You may not know, but I'm fluent in human legalese."

Optimus obediently handed her the data pads and she moved to sit in one of the guest chairs. He took his seat and then commed Jazz and requested that all future infiltrations not be conducted in his office.

An hour later Rain had gone through all the agreements and handed the data pads back to Optimus. She still had one data pad in which she had compiled the necessary data. "This is the agreement you will resubmit to the government," said Rain authoritatively. "It knocks out all the little loop holes they tried to add in and reverses several things in the original agreement that have been hindering us. The human government is greedy and if you provide them with something free be it technology or assistance they will come to except more of these free little gifts. They'll walk all over you if you give them an inch. You have to make them work and trade equally with us. This will make them respect you more for it because they'll have no other choice. Human fatalities and collateral damage are still low enough for the Autobot's image to be positive so we can use that to our advantage. Feel free to look this over and consult me on anything further."

Rain headed out the door while Optimus read the agreement, which was clear, concise and exactly what he was looking for. He would indeed be submitting this, but for now he was headed for some recharge.

xxxxx

Jazz intercepted Rain in the hallway. "Femme, I heard you infiltrated Optimus' office," he said. "What were you doing? Are you still overcharged? Ratchet said the twins gave you high grade earlier."

"I make no excuses. It needed to be done," said Rain. "I need your assistance though."

"With what?" Jazz asked.

"I need to break into Ratchet's quarters," she said. "I could do it myself, but I don't know where it is."

"Why there?" he asked.

"Because I can't go back to my room in case Justice and Smokescreen are using it and Ratchet's hardly ever in his room so I can crash there," she explained like it was obvious. "If you help me, I'll let you know a secret about Echo. I know you've been wanting to court her."

Jazz only wavered for a second. Once Rain was safely in Ratchet's quarters, he looked at her expectantly.

"You know how Echo has Mattie's memories," she said and Jazz nodded. "Mattie wasn't actually a wallflower." Rain pulled out a data pad and let Jazz slide through several magazine images of a beautiful red head that had clearly been Mattie. She was dressed to the nines. Some of the photos were sexy and some of them were extremely elegant. The woman with a little makeup and her hair styled easily outdid Harmony in the beauty department. "She was in quite a few magazines and photo shoots when she was younger in order to pay for her education before she was recruited to the military for her skills. She dressed down at the base so she could complete her work and not get distracted by flirts. She wanted to meet a guy who liked her for her personality not just the looks." Rain looked at Jazz expectantly.

"What?" he asked.

"Don't you get it?" she asked. "You've been played. Echo is the same way in that she's fully aware of what she looks like to others, but she ignores that fact pretending to be oblivious until she finds someone she can actually connect to. If you want to get anywhere with her, you'll have to start paying attention to who she is instead of staring at her chassis."

"I haven't," said Jazz sputtering.

"Sure you haven't," said Rain smirking. "We're done here now and I'm tired so get out."

Jazz snuck out the door making sure he wasn't seen and then went walking leisurely down the hall.

xxxxx

Ratchet was going to finish some more work before he headed to recharge. It wasn't really necessary, but it was a habit by now. Unfortunately, he had left the data pad he needed in his room. He entered the darkened room and was startled when a voice said, "I figured this was the one place you wouldn't come. I guess I underestimated you, but it figures that you'd have a desk in here as well, you workaholic."

Ratchet activated the lights to see Rain reclining in his desk chair with her legs up on his desk. "How did you get in here?" he demanded. "You're still overcharged, aren't you?"

"Someone let me in, but I can't recall who it was," she said. "Faulty memory file, but I was right, wasn't I? You weren't in here to sleep."

"You need to return to your own room and recharge until the high grade passes through your system," said Ratchet.

"I can't it might be occupied," she replied.

Ratchet raised an eye ridge. Another one so soon, he thought.

"Don't worry," said Rain rising to her feet. "I'll leave you to your supposed recharge." Just then Rain was hit with a strong spark call. Normally, she could brush them aside, but she was still slightly overcharged and she was alone in Ratchet's room with him. Her spark lunged toward him causing her knees to buckle and she went down hard. She put both hands over her chest and moaned.

Ratchet rushed forward running a scan on her automatically. "A spark attack?" he asked in concern.

"No Ratchet, it was a spark call," said Rain looking anywhere but at him. "Apparently I'm not as resistant to them when I've had high grade so I won't be drinking it in the future."

"Which is why you came to me," said Ratchet seeming to come to a realization. "You're afraid that the mech causing them will find out which explains why you're hiding in here."

"Sure, whatever you say Ratchet," said Rain from where she lay on the floor. "Help me up, please."

Ratchet pulled her to her feet steadying her with a hand on her waist. As she braced her hands against his chest, she could feel it coming again much stronger than before and she whimpered. "I'm sorry," she said. He was too close to her now.

"For what?" asked Ratchet puzzled.

The next moment the intensity of the spark call knocked Rain into stasis. Ratchet lowered her carefully to his berth and checked her vitals. He was too concerned with her wellbeing to give it any great consideration, but he had faintly felt his own spark pull toward her when he hadn't felt anything like that in decades. As soon as he was satisfied that she was stable, he gave up on his extra work and settled down to recharge in his desk chair next to his occupied berth.

xxxxx

Smokescreen, Jazz, Blaster and a few other mechs had gathered in an empty supply room that they often used for card night. It wasn't that they couldn't use the rec room, but sometimes they preferred not to be seen with what they were betting with. Prowl and the security team would most likely confiscate the high grade and some of the other items.

Blaster threw out a card. He was alone today as his mini-cassettes were currently under Dawn's watchful eye. "So Jazz, I was on monitor duty with Echo earlier this week," he said. "And I believe she's replaced your name with _The Flirt_. What did you do to the femme lately to make her call you that?"

Jazz groaned. "That's from back when we were at the military base. I may have been flirting with one the humans in communications. I was only playing, but Echo seemed convinced that I really liked her. She's really calling me _The Flirt_?"

"Yea, sorry mech," said Blaster. "She's really good at communications though so I'm glad I get to work with her. She likes a whole lot of different music too. It's nice to have company when my cassettes have been stolen from me. The minute I say okay they disappear to find Dawn."

"I'll raise," said Smokescreen tossing out some chips.

"Speaking of femmes, Rain is not allowed to have high grade anymore," said Jazz. "That femme is trouble when she's overcharged. She kept appearing in odd places one of them being Optimus' office. You don't know how surprised I was to get a comm from the boss asking me not to test my spec ops guys by infiltrating his office."

The mechs at the table laughed.

"She sounds like a handful," said Blaster.

"I briefly ran into her in the hall before coming here," said Smokescreen. "I was going to take her back to her room, but she got away on me."

"Ah, she did mention that she couldn't return to her room because you and Justice were going to be in there," said Jazz. "Something you'd like to share."

"Actually she told me a similar thing when I saw her," said Smokescreen. "I think she was baiting me. If I had actually shown up, Justice might have tried to slag me." He left out the part about his reaction to Justice's unexpected appearance in the hallway. He didn't need to provide these mechs with more ammunition to use against him.

"No, she wouldn't," said Hound speaking up. "Justice is on security detail tonight."

Blaster laughed. "She set you up with an empty room."

"Where did Rain end up then?" asked Smokescreen in curiosity.

"Ratchet's room," said Jazz. "Apparently she already caught on to how little he uses it. She's an observant one."

"I'm mech enough to admit that Justice and Rain scare me when they're together," said Smokescreen. "I got a little taste when they tag teamed me during their first sessions. Justice is a piece of work herself, but throw in Rain and it's like throwing nitro on a fire."


	12. Chapter 12

Prowl had emerged from his room and headed to his office. As he was opening the door, there was a popping noise and bright multi-colored confetti shot across his office. He sighed and walked in pushing the offending colorful mess off his desk and onto the floor.

Mist had left his room not too long after and headed to the wash racks. She hadn't been under the water for long when she noticed that it didn't look like the usual solution. She got out of the shower and began toweling off and she watched in dismay as the white towel took on a pink hue. She immediately headed to a mirror to see that she was now a light pink color. She grimaced. She did not like the color. She quickly headed back toward her room to get help from the other femmes.

Prowl felt her dismay over the bond and inquired if she was okay. She replied that she was fine and that she'd deal with the situation herself. Prowl could only wonder at what situation she was talking about. The door to his office opened suddenly and a pink striped Ironhide with red glitter hearts on his arms stormed in. Prowl paused for a moment feeling his logic circuits start to freeze, but Mist automatically overrode the unexpected surprise he was feeling by replacing it with a logical statement over the bond. "So the twins got him too." The sudden realization that Mist would be able to counteract his glitch made him feel more appreciative toward her even as he ignored the tirade Ironhide had launched into about the pit-spawned twins.

xxxxx

Ratchet onlined to find himself alone in his room and recharging in his bed. He distinctly recalled that Rain had been there last night and he'd been recharging in his office chair. He wasn't sure if she had moved him, but she was gone now. He headed out the door toward the rec room. Energon was first and then he'd track her down. The magnitude of her spark call had sent her into stasis so he was concerned it could possibly cause her to have another spark attack if she didn't do something about it soon.

xxxxx

Mist arrived at her room to find all her roommates there.

"Congrats," said Night looking up. "We were wondering if you were ever going to come out of his room. I think the mechs have a running bet."

Mist ducked her head in embarrassment.

"Oh, hush," said Dawn. "She saw what she wanted and she took it."

"She certainly did," said Night. "Right in his office if the rumors are true."

"I think it's wonderful," said Dawn. "I'm surrounded by younglings all the time which is great, but I'd really like a sparkmate myself. To be so in tune with someone must be wonderful thing."

"Did you decide to change your armor color?" asked Echo looking her over.

"Not by choice," said Mist. "The twins rigged one of the showers with pink tint."

"They got Ironhide as well," said Echo. "He was a shocking pink though and there was glitter."

"That's partially my fault," said Night. "The twins and I resolved the issue between us so they've been feeling better and have apparently returned to their old selves, hence the pranks."

"Well the white is ruined and I don't like light pink so I thought I'd go darker to a deep pinkish maroon color," she said. "Oh, I want a black decal of two heart outlines together on my hood too."

"We can help with that," said Night. "Let's get some paint and get started."

xxxxx

Ironhide had officially assigned Dawn to the wreckers. She was now under Springer and was assigned to start training with the others soon. She headed over to the lab as usual bringing some extra energon with her just in case.

Perceptor and Skyfire noticed that Wheeljack had been distracted all day. What he was currently doing didn't involve anything that could explode thankfully, but he seemed to have to constantly refocus on the pieces of what he was putting back together. He wasn't all that enthusiastic about his work either. Skyfire left to deliver something to the construction crew leaving Perceptor and Wheeljack alone.

"Wheeljack," said Perceptor. Wheeljack didn't respond so Perceptor called him five more times before slamming a block of metal onto the table. The sound made Wheeljack look up in alarm. "Wheeljack," said Perceptor. "Perhaps you should go see Ratchet."

"Why?" asked Wheeljack in confusion. "I feel fine."

"Your behavior has been erratic," explained Perceptor. "Even more than usual and you're distracted which puts the lab at an increased risk of combustion. So either you need to see Ratchet or you have something important on your processor."

"Dawn is a wrecker now," Wheeljack blurted out.

"I and all the other wreckers are aware of that fact," said Perceptor. "Why is that a problem for you?"

"It's not safe," said Wheeljack fiddling with the pieces of metal in his hand.

Perceptor raised his eye ridges. "We are at war. There aren't many safe positions available."

"But being a wrecker is even more dangerous than being a frontliner," said Wheeljack. "Dawn is very kind and I don't think she has the personality suited for this. I don't want to see her destroyed from the inside out."

"Both Ironhide and Springer have agreed that she belongs with us," said Perceptor. "She accepted the position herself. She will be further trained and the rest of the wreckers will look after her. Springer even said that she dealt the Decepticons massive damage in the last battle."

Wheeljack just shook his head and Perceptor had a sudden realization about what this was really about. He decided to try and get a reaction out of Wheeljack to confirm his suspicions. "If what you think she needs is emotional support," he said suggestively. "I'm sure the mechs and I will be happy to provide whatever support she needs."

Wheeljack let out a growl and pushed Perceptor up against the wall. Just then the door to the blast proof room opened and Dawn walked into the lab. She saw them, but before she could say anything, Wheeljack immediately let go of Perceptor and stalked out of the lab.

"Are you all right?" Dawn asked Perceptor. "He didn't look happy."

"We had a bit of a disagreement," said Perceptor. "To be honest, Wheeljack doesn't believe you should be in the wreckers, but he won't come clean about his reasons why."

Dawn looked startled for a moment. It was one thing to walk into the middle of a fight, but another to know that you indirectly caused it.

"None of the other mechs have a problem with it," said Perceptor quickly. "Wheeljack might be difficult to catch, but I highly advise that you speak with him and resolve the problem because you will have to interact with him in the wreckers."

Dawn handed Perceptor some energon and then immediately commed the available femmes for help.

Wheeljack drank his energon in the rec room and then headed for his quarters. He wasn't paying attention until someone got in his way forcing him to stop. He looked up to see Mist standing in front of him. He almost didn't recognize her at first because of the new paint job.

"Hello Wheeljack," she said cheerily. "I'm afraid you'll be coming with us."

Both of his arms were grabbed suddenly and he looked over to see Justice on one side and Night on the other.

"Come along quietly," said a voice from behind him. "I'd really rather not have to put you out."

He wasn't sure, but he thought that the voice belonged to Rain. He had no desire to fight the femmes so he went where he was directed. They soon arrived at the door to someone's quarters and he was pushed inside. The door closed and locked behind him. There was no escaping this whatever this was. Inside was a smaller room with two berths and sitting on one of those berths was Dawn.

"Wheeljack," said Dawn standing. "We need to talk."

Wheeljack took a step back instinctively. Dawn wasn't angry or anything, but she was clearly unhappy.

"Why is it that you're the only mech that won't accept me into the wreckers?" asked Dawn. "I'm pretty sure I proved that I was capable in the last battle."

"It's dangerous," said Wheeljack weakly. "It's one of the most dangerous jobs."

"I don't particularly have the skills to do a safer job like communications," said Dawn. "Ratchet has enough assistants stationed in the med bay and my medic skills are better used in the field where I can save lives. My armor is pretty thick as well and I wasn't even injured in the last battle."

"You're too kind to be forced to fight," he protested.

"First off, I chose to fight," she replied. "I have a lot of younglings here that I don't want to see hurt. Ripping up a few Decepticons is a small price to pay for their safety."

"You shouldn't have to do that," said Wheeljack. "I can do that for you."

"We need every bot to win this war and you should know that. So what you're really telling me is that you're overly concerned for my safety as a friend," said Dawn.

Wheeljack nodded his head.

"Wheeljack, friends worry for each other, but they let them do what they want," said Dawn looking at him closely. "Are you in love with me?"

Wheeljack startled. He hadn't even thought of it in terms of affection.

"You don't know, do you?" said Dawn. "Then answer me this, why were you so upset with Perceptor earlier?"

Wheeljack knew that he'd been feeling upset about Dawn being in danger without him there to protect her and he now realized that his protective protocols were activating because of her. Perceptor had insinuated that either he or the other mechs would be willing to get close to Dawn and that had sent his anger spiking. He didn't want any other mech to be with her because she was his. She was his, he repeated in surprise. He hadn't consciously realized it until now.

Dawn had sat back down on the berth while she let him organize his thoughts. She looked over when he sat down next to her. He turned to her and took one of her hands.

"I fear for your safety over everyone else," he said his voice dropping an octave. "You're dedicated and compassionate and I admire that. I built that blast proof room for the sole purpose of interacting with you when you brought energon to the lab. Your presence is the only one that can salvage a terrible day. I may be lying in the med bay in pieces, but as soon as I see you, I feel relieved. I'm sorry that I didn't see until now what that meant. I have fallen very deeply for you."

Dawn put her free hand on the one that held hers. She had hoped he felt something for her, but she had never expected him to lay out his feelings to her so romantically. "I have to admit that you were the reason that I brought energon to the lab so frequently," she said. "Being a medic, I was truly concerned about your health, but I used that as an excuse to come and see you. I've held affection for you ever since I saw you at Azure Military Base, but you never reciprocated so I resigned myself to a long wait."

"Your wait is over," said Wheeljack pushing her gently onto the berth. His spark was pushing him to act and he could feel Dawn's spark responding to him.

Dawn privately commed the other femmes and apologized for taking over their room for however long. They just told her to focus on Wheeljack.

Wheeljack was very gentle and he took his time. It was almost as if he had found an interesting specimen and he wanted to study every inch of it. Both he and Dawn had discarded some of their armor pieces in order to get closer. Dawn investigated the sensitive wires and lines that were burned into her memory from her work in the med bay while Wheeljack traced her every curve. They both found what sent pleasant chills through the other's frame.

After an unknown amount of time, Wheeljack's chest plate slid open activating Dawn's as well. Their sparks sought each other out sending waves of pleasure cascading over them.

"I'd understand if you didn't wish to bond now," said Wheeljack. "In war, bonds are always at risk of being broken."

"It would be utterly painful and I would grieve forever if I were to lose you," said Dawn. "But I would live on until every last bond breaker joins the Well."

"I don't know if I could survive your loss," said Wheeljack. "I might choose to follow you."

"Then you choose," said Dawn. "Because there is nothing I'd rather be than your sparkmate."

Wheeljack's spark reached for hers and the resulting blissful union sent euphoric waves rushing through their frames.

"You are mine now beloved," said Wheeljack through the bond.

"No, you are mine," said Dawn.

xxxxx

Jazz was in Prowl's office when Mist walked in. Jazz whistled appreciatively and Prowl simply gave him a look.

"Going with a new look Mist?" Jazz asked.

The deep maroon pink made her look good and the black heart outlines on her chest looked like a pair of lovers embracing. "It was better than light pink," she replied. "I got caught in the twin's prank and made the best of it."

"I saw Ironhide earlier," said Jazz smirking. "I think your color change was for the best otherwise the two of you would look very monochromatic together."

"What do you think?" Mist asked Prowl.

"I believe any color would suit you," he replied not looking up from his data pad.

"There are some pretty ugly colors out there like slime green and mustard yellow," said Mist raising an eye ridge. "I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be saying that if I had chosen those."

"I would simply turn off my color receptors," said Prowl.

Jazz burst out laughing and Mist smiled.

"I told the other femmes that I'm moving in with you and they're okay with it," she said. "They'll help me move the little I have tomorrow, but I need to stay with you tonight because my bed is currently needed."

"Of course," said Prowl.

"What's going on that got you kicked out of your own room?" asked Jazz.

"Rain and Justice are staying in my old room because Wheeljack and Dawn are currently in theirs," she said.

Prowl felt the telltale jolt that signaled that his circuits were starting to glitch when Mist's mental touch pulled him out of it.

"No kidding," said Jazz. "All the times she brought energon to the lab should have been a clue, but I'm more surprised about Wheeljack. That mech is usually consumed by his projects. I wouldn't have pegged him as a mech capable of noticing another bot like that even one that constantly showed up at his lab."

"He had some help realizing the situation," said Mist cryptically. "We were expecting a broken spark, but he surprised us all. So what are you going to do Jazz? The amount of available femmes is dwindling as we speak."

"Right," said Jazz tapping his chin in thought.

xxxxx

Later that day, Jazz caught sight of Echo in the rec room. She was sitting at a table with Kup and Mirage two bots that he knew she didn't have much in common with, but there she was listening politely to the old war story Kup was telling. Mirage would throw out a comment here and there, but he mostly ignored the company at the table. With his elitist attitude, he had made it clear that only Justice who he thought was the most dignified of the femmes was a possibility for him. Echo's energon cube was already empty so Jazz slid up to the table to perform a rescue. "Excuse me mechs," he said smoothly. "Echo, I've been sent to retrieve you for Rain. Something about her accommodations for the night."

Echo looked confused, but willingly stood.

"Jazz, you would know," said Mirage. "Is the rumor about Wheeljack and Dawn true?"

"I cannot confirm it completely," he replied. "But I did hear from someone close to the situation that it was like that."

"She could have done better than Wheeljack," said Mirage scoffing.

"What's wrong with Wheeljack?" said Kup in his defense. "He's brilliant and his skills with a sword and his altmode are more than impressive. She could have done much worse."

"If blowing himself up is a skill," said Mirage. "He'd beat us all."

Echo was definitely looking uncomfortable so Jazz motioned her over and led her out. They made it down the hall before he spoke. "If you're uncomfortable or bored with the conversation, you can just excuse yourself and leave," said Jazz glancing over at her.

"I'm perfectly capable of extracting myself from conversations," said Echo defensively.

"Then why didn't you?" asked Jazz. "I know at the very least you didn't want to listen to Mirage badmouth Dawn's choices."

"When you're the new face on the team, your goal should be to meet everyone," said Echo. "I'm going to be around you mechs quite often so I figured I should mingle. I know that I'm not always going to catch a mech on a good day, but when I finally figure them out, I'll know whom I want to hang out with and who to avoid. I realize you've known these mechs for a long time so you've already formed opinions, but I'd like to form my own without bias."

"That's mighty magnanimous of you," said Jazz.

"I'll admit that I did appreciate the save though," she said smiling at him.

"Anything for you sweetspark," he replied.

They made it to her room and she typed in the key code. The door slid open and no one was currently there. "To be perfectly honest, I actually prefer quieter conversations to crowds," said Echo. "Are you busy?"

"I'm all yours," Jazz replied. "And I even brought some energon with."

"Be advised that my roommates can and will be coming and going at random," cautioned Echo. "So if you try anything inappropriate, I cannot promise that my roommates won't try and use you for target practice."

"I'll be the perfect gentleman," said Jazz reassuringly.

Echo got comfortable on one end of her berth with her back to the wall while Jazz sat on the other end sideways. He leaned back on one hand cradling the energon cube with the other. "So tell me something I don't know about you," he said.

"There isn't much to tell," said Echo. "I've been working with Blaster mostly on the communications systems when I'm not training. I've mastered Teletran, the Internet is child's play and I've started working on cracking Decepticon codes and signals."

"I pretty much got all that from Blaster," said Jazz.

"Something else then," said Echo. "Oh, I know something you wouldn't know. Mattie had a crush on you."

"What?" said Jazz nearly spilling his energon.

"According to the memories, even though Harmony admired you for your altmode, Mattie really liked your personality. I believe the term she used was smooth talker. I'd have to agree with her on that. You're really easy to talk to Jazz."

"Why thank you," said Jazz.

"So what's something I don't know about you other than your optic color," said Echo.

"Would you like to see my optic color?" he purred.

"Maybe another time," she said shaking her head. "I think your visor suits you just fine."

xxxxx

As the door to the room slid open, Night could hear voices.

"Silver is very sleek, but I chose dark blue because it sparkles in the right light and it reminds me of the stars in the dark blue sky when you look overhead at night."

"That's very poetic," said a much deeper voice.

Night walked in surprised to see Jazz and Echo lounging on Echo's bed.

"Am I interrupting?" she asked walking over to her own berth and retrieving several items.

"No, we're just having a friendly chat," said Jazz. "You can join in if you're staying."

"No, the twins are going to spar with me," said Night. "Sideswipe is restless and Sunstreaker claims he can tell me everything I did wrong in the last battle. I figured I'd try and wear them out a little before we have a repeat of Ironhide and Mist so soon. No guarantees though."

"Where are the other two femmes?" asked Jazz.

"Not sure, but I believe they're together," said Night.

"That's not good," said Jazz. "Those two together make me nervous."

"Has Rain been giving you trouble?" Echo asked.

"No, she's been the model soldier except when she got overcharged the other day," said Jazz. "But we've all done that so I can't fault her. She apparently helped Optimus out with the government contracts even when she was still overcharged so even that episode did some good. I'm still her commanding officer though so I'm keeping an eye on her."

"I'll see you two later then," said Night sweeping out the door.

"Where were we?" said Jazz.

"How about music?" suggested Echo. "Blaster says you're a big fan."

"You have no idea," said Jazz.

xxxxx

Justice and Rain were patrolling the Ark. They hadn't been assigned, but Justice had mentioned several concerns to Rain previously and Rain had suggested making a list of supplies to rectify the security breaches. They had expected to find weak spots in the security grid, but they hadn't expected on encountering a Con even if it was only a cassette.

They were checking a room that the construction workers had not yet finished, when they unexpectedly came across Ratbat. He sent subsonic waves at them knocking them back, but Rain simply offlined him with several blaster shots in return.

"Fragging careless Autobots," said Rain. "They're so incompetent that they can't even keep the Decepticon mini-cassettes out. I wonder why I even agreed to join them." Over the private com-link Rain informed Justice of the presence of Laserbeak, but told her not to let on.

"I agree they are careless," said Justice outloud. "But I've walked the dark path before and will not do it again. You do what you want."

"Another one," said Rain pretending to suddenly see Laserbeak. She shot wildly intentionally missing and the mini-cassette transformed and flew out of the base escaping.

"You're set up now," said Justice over the private com-link. "I hope this is what you wanted."

"I only need a few more supplies and then all I need to do is wait," Rain responded confidently. "They'll come to me."

"I doubt you'll need to wait very long, but know that we will always have your back," said Justice. Justice headed to the security room to personally inform Red Alert about what happened. She didn't want the whole base security alarms blaring for two spies that had already been dealt with.

Rain headed down the hall toward the lab when a flying object hit the wall in front of her stopping her movements. She bent to pick up the wrench from the floor and turned to hand it to its owner. "Ratchet, there are nicer ways of getting my attention," she said. She could feel the tingle go over her as he scanned her.

"You shouldn't have disappeared earlier," he said in reprimand. "I was worried for your condition and I want to examine you in the med bay."

"I'm perfectly fine," said Rain protesting. "The high grade was the problem and it's out of my system now. I sincerely apologize for the incident and I promise that it will not happen again."

Ratchet had been expecting pushback like he got from most of the other mechs, but he was not expecting an apology.

"You've done your scan," said Rain. "If you didn't detect anything, I would like you to release me. I have something important to attend to."

Ratchet scowled and nodded his head. "You will see me soon," he promised.

"I understand," said Rain walking off.

xxxxx

Red Alert was in a tizzy over the offlined mini-cassette and the spy. He was further upset when Justice reported all the loopholes she had found. The only thing that calmed him down was Inferno and the solid list of security corrections that Justice had provided him. It still caused him to jump at shadows for a while though.

xxxxx

Night was in the training room with the twins swords drawn. She was currently up against Sideswipe while Sunstreaker physically corrected her stance and moves. As they progressed, she began to notice that Sunstreaker was big on touching for someone who loved his gold paint so much. After the work with the swords, which she was getting better at, they switched to sparring. She watched the twins spar against each other and then joined in after.

"Night, watch the claws," said Sunstreaker flinching back from one particular hit.

"Aw," said Night purring. "Did you think I was going to scratch you? I know. How about I give you a full body claw massage later."

Sunstreaker scowled. "I've noticed that your first instinct is to go for the weak spots on your opponent," he pointed out.

"In other words, you fight dirty," said Sideswipe. "Not that it's a bad thing as long as it's directed toward the Decepticons."

"Old memories of fighting against bigger and stronger people tends to make you do that," said Night. "Hitting their weak spots was the only way she got out of those fights alive."

"Bigger," said Sunstreaker snorting. "Femme, you're currently taller than us by an inch and there's only Optimus and handful of Decepticons that would be bigger."

"We're not trying to discourage that habit," said Sideswipe. "We're only training you to fight like us."

"We've been doing this much longer than you," said Sunstreaker.

"And it's worked out for us," said Sideswipe.

"I get it, but I have these claws for a reason," she said flexing her fingers.

"Well just don't use them on me," said Sunstreaker.

Night laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "I'll do my best."


	13. Chapter 13

With all the new supplies that the Ark had received, it was now 72% repaired on the inside and nearly 3/4ths had been excavated from the surrounding mountain. Rain wasn't happy with the progress, but it was a big improvement over what it had been when she first arrived. There wasn't much to do since Jazz wasn't letting her go on recon missions so she volunteered for a routine patrol with Hound, Ironhide, Skids and Mudflap to check on signals that were registering as Decepticon. The group split in two and she was with Skids and Mudflap when she came across Barricade. She immediately sent a comm to the twins telling them to regroup with Ironhide and Hound. The twins were reluctant to leave her so Rain scanned new black paint and managed to lose them in traffic. The new black paint even covered the Autobot symbol. Shortly after, Barricade pulled up next to her and commed her.

"Megatron wishes to speak with you," he said. "Come with me femme."

Rain followed him willingly and they finally arrived at where the Nemesis was grounded. Most of the mechs on board didn't even notice Rain as she passed them in the hall. She retained her new color and kept the Autobot symbol hidden for that very reason. Barricade took her to the control room where the giant form of Megatron sat in his throne overseeing bridge operations.

"Lord Megatron," said Barricade. "The femme."

Megatron stood. His tall forbidding silver form towered over her. His red eyes examined her piercingly. "So it's true that there are newly sparked bots among the Autobots. We know they have the Allspark shard, but I was unaware that they had protoforms. I wonder where they acquired them." He glanced over sharply at Starscream.

"We never saw them retrieve any protoforms from either the crashed ship or the military base, my Lord," protested Starscream. "It is possible that they already had them."

"Unlikely," said Soundwave. "Laserbeak recorded their arrival. It occurred a day after the battle at the human military base."

Megatron glared at Starscream and he shrunk back. He then returned his attention to Rain. "It has come to my attention," he said gesturing to the side where Laserbeak sat on Soundwave's shoulder. "That you are perhaps more suited for the Decepticon cause than the Autobots. Would you be willing to prove this to me?"

"The Autobots never really gave me a choice after I was created and so I've always played my own game. Will some information you don't know serve as proof of loyalty," purred Rain moving seductively toward him.

"What could you possibly know that we don't," said Starscream sneering at her from the corner.

"First, the Autobots have advanced the Ark's repair schedule," she replied. "They intend to be off this planet as soon as possible. If your ship isn't repaired by then, they'll escape with the Allspark shard. Second, I was sparked by the Allspark shard with the side effect of gaining the memories of one of the human females that was offlined by one of your Decepticons."

All the mechs around her visibly recoiled in disgust.

"You have the mind of one of those vermin," said Starscream. "Disgusting."

"Regardless," said Rain smiling wider. "The Autobots are blinded by what they think is friendship with their human allies, but unless they leave soon enough, they and you will find out that humans are not so harmless."

"What do you mean by this?" asked Megatron intrigued.

"Humans are greedy and will do almost anything for money and power, but I'm sure you know that from the deals I've heard that you've made with the underground network. The human government however is far more dangerous to your kind because they have used all their confusing agreements to keep what they believe are living weapons on this planet so they can study and replicate your technology," said Rain tilting her head innocently. "Once they get what they want, they'll turn those weapons on all of your kind to erase your presence here. All Cybertronians are considered threats to them."

"Illogical," said Soundwave. "The Autobot presence is known and supported by the civilians of Earth."

"All the government has to do is say that the Autobots repaired their ship and left," she responded stroking her chassis suggestively. "Any bodies found could be claimed as Decepticons. It's not that hard to paint over a symbol. It's called a cover-up, look it up."

"You are sure of this?" asked Megatron looking deep in thought.

"The woman your soldiers offlined worked in military intelligence," said Rain walking closer to Soundwave. "So I am positive. Though I'd understand if some of your mechs don't trust me," she said looking directly at Soundwave. "After all, I did offline one of his pets."

At the comment, Soundwave suddenly hit her sending her flying into the nearby computer terminal.

"Soundwave desist," said Megatron.

Soundwave did not continue his actions and Rain took her time straightening and regaining her dignity.

"You don't believe her, do you?" cried Starscream outraged.

"Regardless of her claims," said Megatron. "If the Autobots are indeed near the completion of rebuilding their ship, we must hasten our efforts as well. I do not believe that the humans are currently a threat, but with our enemy gone there is no reason to remain. Our goal is Cybertron and the shard. Do not forget that."

Rain remained leaning against the console.

"If I may make a suggestion," said Starscream. "Decepticon or not, the femme's presence would cause a distraction to the mechs on this ship. We should have Scalpel remove her human memories and send her to the Devastation."

"See it done," said Megatron returning to his chair.

Starscream led Rain out of the room and down the hall. They met Skywarp in the hall and then they stopped in front of the door to the lab.

"Scalpel is one of our scientists and he will remove that memory file for you and then Skywarp here will be waiting in the hall to warp you to the Devastation," said Starscream. "Hopefully you won't return."

He stormed off down the hall while Rain leaned against the hallway wall and looked at Skywarp. "I don't think he likes me," she said smirking and Skywarp laughed. "What's the Devastation?"

"It's our other warship," said Skywarp. "It's currently stationed several planets away and it only just arrived with reinforcements. It's loads better than being on this piece of scrap."

"Well then, I guess I'd better get there sooner than later," she said entering through the lab door.

Fifteen minutes later Rain reemerged and the door slid shut behind her. She had the purple Decepticon insignia on her chest now. "My designation is Acid Rain and I believe we were headed to the Devastation," she said.

"Do you remember anything about the human?" asked Skywarp.

"The only humans I ever met was Sam and Carly at the Autobot base," she replied. "They didn't impress me."

Skywarp cackled and then warped them onto the Devastation. After handing her off to one of the other mechs, he warped back to the Nemesis and reported in.

xxxxx

There was a commotion when the away team reported in without Rain. The younger twins claimed that she had lost them on purpose going so far as to change her altmode. She had sent them to Ironhide and Hound for no reason since they had not encountered the enemy. Hound had later identified the signal the twins picked up as Barricade's.

"She wouldn't have gone with that slagger, would she?" asked Ironhide. "There wasn't any evidence of a fight."

"She could have been incapacitated and taken prisoner," said Jazz. "They might want to use her to trade for something."

"There has been no demands made," said Prowl. "The Decepticons do not usually wait this long if they want something. You may not want to hear it, but perhaps she went willingly."

"Why would she do that?" asked Jazz. "She's given no indication that she harbors any support for the Cons. We've been watching her fairly closely."

"Maybe she had a spark call with a Decepticon," supplied Ratchet. "She offlined the other one though so I don't understand what's different."

"She offlined Ratbat," supplied Red Alert. "Perhaps Soundwave wanted revenge for his mini-cassette."

"There is not enough information to come to a conclusion," said Optimus. "We will continue this discussion when we do."

xxxxx

Rain was left in the care of Hook who was currently reorganizing his lab the way he wanted it. She learned that they had recently acquired some new prisoners and he was getting ready to experiment on them after they were interrogated. She kept getting in his way so he sent her to go work with Scavenger.

Scavenger was easier to read than the obsessive compulsive medic had been. He was the type of mech who felt the need to always prove his usefulness to the cause. He was currently handling the reconstruction of some of the damaged corridors and rooms. Since he wasn't on a planet where he could scavenge for metals, he was mostly left to do inventory and small repairs on the ship. Rain managed to easily slip away from him and access the computer terminals time and again as he eagerly got involved in his important work. When she finally complained that she needed recharge, he got her some energon and took her to her new quarters.

Not long after he left, she quickly escaped her quarters and headed toward the brig. Her dark paint blended in well with the dark hallways making her less noticeable. The virus she had installed in the computer system earlier gave her control of the cameras and she monitored them with the data pad she had swiped from Hook's lab. All eight of the prisoners were currently in the brig along with two Decepticon guards. There was one stationed outside the door and one inside. She quickly incapacitated the outside guard, opened the door and took down the other guard. She walked down the cell corridor tossing energon cubes to the prisoners. A few looked like they were in bad shape, but she didn't have time to patch them up. All eight bore the Autobot symbol, which eliminated complications. She handed a pink femme a data pad and released the cell doors. "Listen up! You have approximately five minutes to follow that map and reach the Decepticon shuttles to escape," she said tossing blasters to two mechs. "Disable the identity beacon on the shuttle and go to the coordinates found on the data pad to meet up with the Autobots on Earth. The cameras will resume functioning after the time limit. Now go! I can't guarantee you safe passage so good luck."

"Why help us?" asked a mech as tall as Optimus Prime.

"Because if you remain here, you will offline," said Rain. "Now go!"

The Autobots left carrying the wounded and Rain left the brig after planting some explosives. She quickly headed toward the engine room and gained access to the core of the ship and the thrusters. She rigged them and programmed the ship's coordinates for the planet Venus. The alarms went off suddenly signaling that the escaping Autobots had been discovered and Rain set off the explosives in the brig. She then headed toward the shuttle bay while monitoring the ship's trajectory. She unfortunately encountered Hook on her way.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I was doing inventory with Scavenger when I heard the alarm," she replied. "The first place escapees would head would be the shuttles so I came to see if I could catch them. Might put me in Megatron's good graces."

"I don't believe you," said Hook aiming his blaster at her.

"I have proof," said Rain lifting the data pad. She tapped on a button and there was an explosion so large it rocked the entire ship.

Hook was jostled and Rain used the distraction to knock him to the floor. Then she took off running down the hall. Hook heard a whirring noise and looked down to where a magnetized disc was now attached to his chassis. It suddenly exploded covering him and the hall with a dark liquid. The liquid started to steam and the metal it had touched started to melt. Hook went offline soon after.

Rain quickly entered the shuttle bay and noticed that one of the shuttles was missing. Thankfully the Autobots had escaped, but unfortunately Mixmaster, a mech she had only met in passing, had also shown up to investigate the missing shuttle. Hook must have sent out a general comm about her before he offlined as Mixmaster immediately engaged her in hand-to-hand combat despite the Decepticon symbol on her chest.

"I'll melt you down and make new parts from your metal," he stated gleefully. He managed to grab ahold of her and shove her back against the wall where a sharp pipe had been left by previous battle damage. She barely had time to maneuver before the pipe pierced the right side of her chest and went straight through. It bent under her weight, but Mixmaster held her there.

"I have something to say before I offline," said Rain spitting energon.

"What?" said Mixmaster.

Rain raised the data pad with one hand as a distraction so she could place an acid pellet on the pipe behind her with the other. "This ship is crashing into Venus. Between the temperature and the sulfuric acid clouds nothing will be left."

Mixmaster released her and rushed over to the nearest computer monitor to confirm if what she was saying was true. He hastily began to try and adjust the ship's coordinates.

The acid ate through the pipe until Rain's weight broke the pipe off the wall and she landed on her feet. She shot magnetic grenades onto the other shuttles as she ran by and boarded the last one. As she took off, she set them off. She had cut her escape a little close. The ship was already being drawn in by the gravity of the planet and she used her shuttle's proximity to the ship as a shield to break away from the pull of the planet's gravitational force. Behind her, the Devastation started to explode and break apart as it crashed into Venus. Rain quickly set a course for Earth and the Autobots congratulating herself on reducing the Decepticon threat near Earth by half.

xxxxx

Soundwave notified Megatron that the Devastation's signal had been lost. He promptly sent Starscream's trine into space to investigate. Soundwave had a growing suspicion and went to Scalpel's lab to confirm it. The lab door was locked, but he easily overrode it. It took a moment because of all the junk in the lab, but he was able to locate Scalpel's offlined body. The body of the small scientist was pinned to the floor with metal stars and had been blasted into pieces. He sent the picture to Megatron just as the trine returned to report that the Devastation had crashed into Venus with no survivors. Megatron's cry of rage could be heard throughout the ship.


	14. Chapter 14

An unidentified shuttle landed not far from the Ark bringing it into an instant state of alarm. The Autobots rushed out weapons drawn only to discover that other Autobots had arrived.

"Chromia, Elita, Flareup, Arcee, Ultra Magnus, Hot Rod, Warpath and Seaspray, welcome to Earth," said Optimus.

Chromia's hug nearly bowled Ironhide over when she saw him. Elita embraced Optimus and the other mechs happily greeted their long lost comrades.

"First, the med bay," said Optimus observing their battered forms and then we'll debrief you."

"Incoming shuttle," yelled Red Alert over the general comm.

"Was there anyone else with you?" asked Optimus stepping in front of Elita protectively.

"No, it was just the eight of us," she replied.

As the second shuttle headed in, it passed over the first skidding into the desert scattering rocks in its haphazard landing. It finally came to a stop and the hatch opened to reveal a figure all in black with the Decepticon symbol on its chest. Every Autobot had their weapon pointed at the Decepticon and the figure raised its empty hands saying it was unarmed.

"That's the femme that helped us escape," said Elita speaking up.

Suddenly the black paint shimmered turning a blue green and an Autobot symbol reappeared over the Decepticon mark. "Sorry, forgot to turn that back," said Rain not moving. "I'm back and I brought you a souvenir." Several femmes immediately flocked over to her excitedly while the other bots looked on confused.

"She's with the Autobots?" Ultra Magnus asked Optimus.

"There is much to tell, soldier," said Optimus.

xxxxx

The newly arrived Autobots and Rain were treated in the med bay.

"How did this happen?" asked Ratchet removing the pipe from Rain's chassis.

"Mixmaster decided to pin femmes like humans pin butterflies in a collection," she said.

"You're lucky that he didn't hit your spark," he said tapping his wrench threateningly by her head.

"Luck had nothing to do with it," said Rain. "I couldn't get out of his grip, but I could shift enough to throw his aim off."

"How did you end up with the Decepticons?" asked Ratchet curiously.

"Sorry, I can't say until I talk to Jazz or Optimus," she said.

xxxxx

As soon as Ratchet had finished her repairs, Rain met Jazz in his office. She handed him all the data she'd collected from the two Decepticon ships and told him what had happened. By the end of her story, Jazz was irate. Gone was his easygoing tone and he glared at her angrily. Despite what she had done that had benefited their side, he was furious at her for taking unilateral movement. While she told him that she completely understood his reaction, she pointed out that he'd never have let her go otherwise. Prowl arrived soon after and escorted her to the brig.

Justice asked Optimus to be included in the briefing saying that she might have insight into Rain's actions considering they were roommates and he agreed. All the officers as well as the new arrivals were included in the briefing. Ratchet started off by listing the conditions of the two new mechs that weren't included. Warpath and Hot Rod would need additional time to heal. Then Ultra Magnus and Elita explained how their two small bands of fighters had encountered each other on a planet that was calling for aid. While they sorted the Decepticon problem there, their shuttle was captured as they travelled back to Cybertron.

Justice then added that the situation with the Decepticon mini-cassettes had been an infiltration setup that Rain had orchestrated from the beginning. "It was the only reason we let Laserbeak live," said Justice. "The Decepticons are similar to this world's underground and I had no interest in returning to the dark so I gave Rain every unsavory contact I had stored in my memory in order to find information on the Cons. Rain also told me that she'd gladly walk in the darkness to get what she wanted."

Jazz continued from there spinning the tale that Rain had told him. "She brought back information she downloaded from both the Nemesis and the Devastation," he said. "We're analyzing the data now, but based on this information, we can map where the Cons have been and what they might be planning. The Nemesis is repairing but still operational while the Devastation and the Cons on it were destroyed."

"How did she manage that?" asked Ironhide in disbelief.

"She disabled the controls, took out the engine and crashed it into planet Venus," said Jazz. "She also claims to have offlined Scalpel when he tried to erase her memory files."

"I have to commend her on that action," said Prowl. "Scalpel was known for unlawful experiments on his own kind."

"Despite this, she left without permission and is currently in the brig for insubordination," said Jazz.

"Isn't that a little harsh," said Chromia. "Considering the results she achieved. The eight of us might have been offlined had she not helped us escape."

"She's barely two months old," said Jazz. "She was sparked here on Earth along with five other femmes. Someone that young and inexperienced should never have been allowed to infiltrate the Decepticons. Had she revealed her plan, I or another on my team could have infiltrated the Cons."

Justice chuckled at that and the others turned to look at her. "Apologies, but the setup she planned wouldn't have worked for anyone but her. Also, ever since we were sparked, we've done nothing but train and learn to fight so I hardly think we're unqualified," she said leaning back in her chair. "Minus Dawn and Night whom only have memories of civilians. Rain, Echo, Mist and myself have memories from soldiers. Those soldiers were also members of the CT military branch which I doubt you know exists."

"What is CT?" asked Optimus.

"It stands for Cybertronian Taskforce," she said. "Ironhide saw how well we worked together as a team during the last battle. No matter our function in the military we were trained to take down Cybertronians and I mean Cybertronians, not just Decepticons, but all of our kind. Shooting at the weak spot together to penetrate and scattering to avoid return fire only to repeat. That is only one of CT's training strategies."

There was a stunned silence at the table.

"Why did you never mention this before?" asked Prowl.

"You have a predisposition to see humans as good and it was unlikely you'd believe our words without proof," she said. "Don't get me wrong. There are humans on this Earth as good as angels, but that also means there are humans just as bad. I have many memories of the worst kind of humans and the corruption they cause. My specific human joined the military as a translator to escape that world. With her memories I could have walked straight onto a Decepticon ship and never looked back, but I chose not to. Echo and Mist don't have that type of background and they were simply trained as soldiers in CT. Rain on the other hand was in intelligence and thrived in a world almost as dark as my own. The only ones involved in this situation even slightly are the four of us."

"If those human memories are what caused the situation," said Ultra Magnus. "Shouldn't the memory files be deleted?"

Justice stiffened noticeably while Optimus looked thoughtful.

"You will not be touching my sparkmate," said Prowl in a threatening voice.

Ultra Magnus put his hands up in a placating gesture. "I was simply suggesting a logical solution."

"Mist helped Rain get the supplies she needed," said Justice. "Echo created the computer virus that allowed Rain to hack into the Decepticon's database. I gave her my underworld contacts. Night and Dawn weren't involved at all. None of us has ever been hostile to any of the Autobots. The human memories are simply the basis that we built our current beings from. Based on these facts if you still wish to erase all our memories, then you are no better than Megatron and Scalpel." Justice stood abruptly. "Optimus Prime, I demand that you make your decision now or I will take the femmes and leave immediately."

"I agree that retaining your memories won't be an issue for the majority of you," said Optimus. "Rain might benefit though."

"Too bad," said Justice tossing a data pad on the table. "She's already gone and she left you a message."

A picture of Rain came on the screen. "Greetings, you're only seeing this if you've made the decision which I fully expected you to make and that has forced me to leave. I'll be blunt. With the attack on Azure Military Base, the humans have increased the progression of the CT program. I can confirm with my contacts that new weapons effective against Autobots are currently being built and training will be spreading to other military bases. They will seek to destroy you and your only hope is repairing the Ark. I left the account number I was using to order supplies embedded in Justice's human memories. You destroy them; you destroy your only chance of getting supplies government free. As for the Cons, when I spoke with Megatron I warned him of this same thing and he has stepped up the repairs on his ship. With both of you gone, the Cybertronian and human massacre that would ultimately result won't happen. I also reduced the current Decepticon threat around Earth by half. You're welcome for that. While I got a big boost in learning to be a saboteur from Audrey's memories, the one and only reason I did what I did was to protect the Autobot mech with whom I had a spark call. I will continue to side with the Autobots from the shadows, but I will no longer carry any affiliation. So I'll see you around, but you won't see me."

Prowl confirmed a moment later that she had escaped from the brig and that there was no trace of her on the Ark. A severely disheartened Optimus adjourned the meeting and left with his sparkmate.

Jazz stopped Justice as she was leaving. "For what it's worth," he said. "I'm sorry. I didn't intend for this to happen."

Justice just nodded her head and left.

xxxxx

Prowl returned to his room to find the lights off, but his door wings located Mist sitting on the far corner of the berth. He could tell through the bond that she was agitated.

"Are you angry?" asked Mist quietly.

"I am not," replied Prowl evenly. "Why did you not tell me of CT?"

"The four of us all had contacts on the inside," she replied. "We were taking care of it ourselves. We did not wish to burden you further."

"It is not a threat right now, but will undoubtedly become one in time," said Prowl.

"We have already made movements to rectify the situation and now with Rain free and clear to move as she wants, there will be limited problems from that corner," reassured Mist.

"Will you tell me your plans?" asked Prowl. "I will keep it in strictest confidence."

"What I know is limited, but I'll tell you whatever you want to know. It was Rain that made most of the moves and I wasn't privy to everything," she replied.

Prowl sat down on the berth next to her.

"I want to thank you for defending me when they wanted to erase my memories," she said softly. "Justice told me that you were the only one who stood up for us. I wouldn't be who I am right now without them. Starting from scratch terrifies me, but not so much as losing you because of it."

"No matter what happens I will not leave you," said Prowl taking her hand in his. He moved closer bringing her against him delicately. He exercised more care in how gently he held her than ever before. It was obvious that she was feeling uncertain and insecure about what was going to happen to her and the others.

xxxxx

Wheeljack had caught onto the current situation when he stopped in the rec room and caught sight of the new faces. The mechs in the rec room were only too willing to fill him in on the details. After hearing the story, which got more exaggerated as the mechs got overcharged, he headed back to his berth room. Well it wasn't just his berth room anymore. Dawn looked up from her data pad as he entered and flashed him a small smile. As he put the equipment he had with him away, he could tell how subdued she was even with her blocking her side of the bond.

"Dawn," he said softly.

"Hmm," she replied.

"Are you all right?" he asked walking over to her.

"Would you have let them take away my memories?" asked Dawn looking at him seriously.

"If it was something that was absolutely necessary and would keep you from harm," said Wheeljack. "Then yes I would let them delete those memory files."

Dawn looked at him in surprise shock leaking through the bond.

"I will not allow anyone to take you away from me," he said looming above her. "Not even memories. There is nothing in this universe that is worth more to me than you. Memories can be remade as long as you are with me."

Her initial shock through the bond quickly turned to understanding and then embarrassment. "I'm sorry for asking such a question," she said pulling him down on the berth next to her. "I'm slightly angry that the others didn't involve me, but the possible repercussions of their actions scared me very much. I don't know what I'd do if I was forced to leave the Ark like Rain was."

Wheeljack could still feel her insecurity over the bond and decided that tonight was not a night to be slow and gentle for he needed to quickly make her feel overcome by his presence until the only thought in her processors was his name.

xxxxx

Jazz caught up with Echo and asked to speak with her in his office. He sat behind his desk while Echo stood before it.

"I take it this isn't a social call," said Echo dryly.

"I wanted to ask about the virus you made," said Jazz.

"Which one? The one Rain used to hack the Con's mainframe or the half a dozen that I created in my free time and gave to Blaster?" asked Echo. "Though I'm not sure he even looked at them yet. We've been busy in communications."

"Why didn't you bring their existence to our attention?" asked Jazz.

"I just told you I gave it to my boss," protested Echo. "I followed the chain of command. Him overlooking them isn't my fault. It's your perception of us at fault."

"What do you mean?" asked Jazz in confusion.

"When the majority of the mechs look at us, they see new bots with little experience," said Echo. "This causes our skills to get overlooked and then we have the tedious task of trying to prove ourselves without some overprotective mech getting in the way. In our group, however, what we see when we look at each other are trained soldiers. We each have our own developed talents already even the former civilians. We have a command structure all our own and we follow it. It's you that has underestimated us from the beginning."

"We would've listened if you had only told us," protested Jazz.

"That's highly unlikely. When Rain's initial warnings failed to get taken seriously, we knew there wasn't any point in trying," said Echo pulling out a data pad and placing it on his desk. "This is an additional copy of the virus group I created. Feel free to use them."

Jazz took the data pad and started looking through it. Echo headed to the door, but paused and looked back. "Without my memories, those viruses would have never been created this quickly. Justice told me that Prowl was the only one who protested the memory erasure on our behalf. It's a pity because I thought that I had made a few friends here that might try to understand me, but I can plainly see that's not the case and that I'm just seen as another pretty frame," she said bitterly walking out the door.

The door slid shut and Jazz punched his desk as he realized that all the effort he had put into trying to get to know Echo had just been vaporized.

xxxxx

Justice was headed to her room when she bumped into Smokescreen or at least she figured that was how it was supposed to appear. He had probably been waiting for her. "Come along," she said gesturing down the hallway. She opened the door to her room letting him inside and following him in. "Take a seat," she said gesturing to Rain's empty half of the room. She pulled out two cubes of what was obviously high grade and passed him one. "So what would you like to know?"

"Direct as usual," said Smokescreen taking a sip of his cube. "Whoa, this is strong. Where did you get this?" he asked.

"A friend of mine got it from a mech, but she's not a big drinker so she gave it to me," she replied glancing at the cube. "I don't drink much either, but today it's warranted."

"Are you upset?" asked Smokescreen gently.

"No, in actuality, I knew this would happen. Rain and I predicted it after she made her decision to try the infiltration. It is somewhat disappointing that it didn't turn out different, but it was still within our expectations. There's no reason to get mad over plans going the way you predicted," she said smiling.

"You foresaw this and yet you went ahead despite telling people that you didn't want to get involved," said Smokescreen. "That was very crafty of the two of you and Rain even left you her account number as a security measure in order to protect your memories. It was a well thought out plan."

Justice broke out in genuine laughter and Smokescreen looked at her quizzically. There was still 3/4ths of the energon left in her cube.

"Did the high grade affect you already?" he asked.

"She lied," said Justice hitting the play button on a video on her data pad and taking a seat next to him. Once Rain's message had finished, she looked at him like she was studying him. "That was the message she left," she finally said. "What did you hear? Analyze it."

"She's blatantly using fear to try and coerce us into leaving this planet as soon as we can," said Smokescreen. "She admits to fear mongering with the Decepticons as well. We already have some agreements with the government to fight against the Decepticons in a joint effort so convincing us otherwise needed a basis. This is where she inserted CT into it trying to give us a threat to back it up. Her main message is action now talk later. Now that she's stuck on the outside, she still wants to appear noble or maybe sentimental which is why she brought up her spark call. That way she can blame her actions on her youth and emotions. Whatever agenda she has, it obviously can be advanced without her being here and with little of our influence."

"That's a little dry, but an excellent analysis," said Justice smirking. She handed him another cube of high grade.

"But you know something I don't," he said. "And you think that's why I'm here and not because I'm concerned for your welfare."

"I don't know why you would be," said Justice. "Beyond my fellow femmes with sparkmates, we're simply another bot in this war. Most of you are hardened to losing others and we haven't been here long enough to form any meaningful relationships."

Smokescreen frowned at her reasoning.

"It's okay," said Justice trying to reassure him. "Mist and Dawn were fortunate and the rest of us have already accepted this reality. Rain was particularly aware of this as she had a tail on her from the very beginning. She knew that no one trusted her and her being on her own out there is no different from her being on her own in here."

"I'm sorry that you feel that way," said Smokescreen genuinely. "We seem to have failed to realize the affect we were having on Rain as well. Are you willing to tell me what you know?"

"Sure," said Justice shifting to lean against the wall. "When you arrived at Azure, the base looked deserted. That was because the base was evacuated when they heard you were coming. The humans may have agreements with you, but they always plan for the worst case scenario such as Optimus turning on them when Megatron has been defeated."

"That would never happen," said Smokescreen adamantly.

"They don't know that," she replied. "Cybertronians are so similar to humans and they are so different. Some humans can't see past those differences. How many humans have the mechs gotten to know as well as Sam and Carly?"

Smokescreen remained silent realizing that there weren't many.

"The CT is a real program and many of the soldiers that were evacuated are in it," she said. "Prototypes of weapons that can harm Cybertronians already exist. While she was melodramatic in her explanation, Rain wanted to hammer home that this could become a problem. Rain isn't fond of humans, but she's giving them a chance by alerting you to the problem that exists. The way Optimus decides to deal with it will determine the future of our interactions with Earth."

"Why include the Decepticons?" asked Smokescreen.

"That information was a bargaining chip for getting her inside so she could get information," said Justice handing him another cube. "The other purpose it serves is to take our war away from Earth as soon as possible. Earth will be more receptive to us if we're not leaving a trail of human corpses everywhere and Earth is important to some of the femmes."

"Is Rain included?" asked Smokescreen leaning on his elbow.

"Rain wants to leave not stay. She's doing this for the others," said Justice. "She's much nicer than she lets on. She added the spark call comment as a way to apologize to the mech for leaving because she doesn't believe she'll survive what's going to happen next. I don't know who the mech is so don't bother asking. She doesn't tell me everything."

"You said she lied earlier," said Smokescreen tossing back the rest of his cube.

"I don't have the account number, but I have a way to contact her," she said smiling. "And about my human memories, except for the sense of redemption I get from doing the right thing and a few training techniques, I deleted nearly all of the memories that related to Paris' personal life after I let Rain have my contacts."

Smokescreen was completely flabbergasted by her admission. "When was this?" he demanded gripping her shoulders.

"Not even a week after I was sparked," she admitted. "All of the femmes deleted all but the relevant memories from their files. Rain has the only remnants of mine."

"So there never was a threat from you femmes," said Smokescreen whistling. "She knew that, but used it as a weapon regardless. It was all a part of her plan. How clever."

"Erasing the remainder of my memories now wouldn't change me much," said Justice smirking. "I'm sure my processor is already set in its ways."

"Would you be willing to have Ratchet verify that your memories are gone?" asked Smokescreen.

"Of course," said Justice smugly. "I wouldn't want to be seen as uncooperative." She stood up to move, but she wobbled and started to topple over.

Smokescreen caught her and drew her onto the berth with him. "I think you've had enough high grade for tonight," he said holding her. "We'll see Ratchet in the morning when all this is out of your system. I don't want either of us getting in trouble for it."

"Well since you seem to have free time," said Justice leaning against his chassis. "Let's talk about you."

xxxxx

Echo and Night were in their room discussing what had happened. Neither had known what Rain was planning.

"I should have known something was up when she asked for the virus," said Echo. "I was just so happy that someone wanted my work."

"I feel somewhat responsible for not looking after Justice and Rain more closely," said Night. "Maybe I could have stopped her."

"It's not your responsibility to look after anyone else but yourself," said Echo. "Rain is a rich spoiled princess that does whatever she wants. There's no way you could have stopped her and we are simply lucky she didn't take the rest of us down with her."

"You're just sore over what happened with Jazz," said Night rolling her optics behind her visor.

"I really am, but I know that it was my own fault," Echo replied. "I pretended to be demure because I wanted him to notice me and get to know me, but instead I was mostly surrounded by obnoxious mechs with overflowing egos and boring stories. Going forward I won't be so quiet anymore."

"It's never a good idea to hide your personality," said Night.

"It worked for Mist," pointed out Echo.

"Only if she was aiming for the twins, which she wasn't, but luckily Prowl saw through it," said Night. "That mech is incredibly sharp."

"Do you think I still have any chance with Jazz now?" asked Echo. "Maybe I should move on."

"Don't make any decisions right now," encouraged Night. "Forgive the mech for failing to live up to your expectations because that was all it was and take it one day at a time. There is always that last ray of hope."

"You're right," said Echo determinedly. "I'll do that and I think it's time for a change."


	15. Chapter 15

Smokescreen onlined to find himself on a berth in an unfamiliar room. He was lying on his front with his arm flung over another bot. Justice was already awake and she turned her optics to his as he turned his head.

"I received an invite to meet the newly arrived femmes," she said. "Is it fine if I go meet them before seeing Ratchet?"

"Sure," said Smokescreen. "I'll let him know to expect you later."

"Great, now if you'd remove your arm, I'll be on my way," she said.

"Sorry, of course," said Smokescreen pushing himself up and off of her. He felt a twinge of regret in his spark as she moved away.

She quickly collected something from her shelves and promptly walked out the door. He marveled at how composed she had been waking up next to him. She was almost casual about it like it was a common thing. He wondered if it would be different if they'd done more than recharge together. He was also secretly glad that the femme he had gotten to know was like that from the start as he'd been worried about how she would change if her human memories were erased. As he collected the now empty energon cubes and subspaced them, he suddenly realized that his spark was reaching with longing for the femme that had just walked out the door. He had it bad. Smokescreen left the room and walked down the hall reviewing the information he had learned last night. After her admission about Rain's plans, he now recalled the many things about himself that he'd let slip after that. He wasn't quite sure it was such a good thing to have done so. In her presence in the future he would have to make a point to avoid the high grade.

xxxxx

Echo, Justice, Dawn, Mist and Night were lounging in the conference room when Elita and the other femmes walked in. The two groups paused sizing each other up. Night stepped forward gallantly. "I'm Night, this is Justice, this is Mist, this is Echo and this is Dawn," she said gesturing.

"My designation is Elita, this is Chromia, Flareup and Arcee," said Elita copying her move.

"So we have a really important question for you," said Dawn seriously.

Elita stiffened in anticipation.

"How in the world did you get Optimus as a sparkmate?" she blurted out excitedly.

Elita relaxed slightly.

"For that matter, how did you and Ironhide get together?" Mist asked Chromia.

"Oh geez," said Arcee. "Don't get them started."

"I agree with you there," said Echo. "The unattached ones in the room don't want to hear all your mushy stories."

"Oh, are they bonded?" asked Chromia.

"My sparkmate is Prowl," said Mist proudly.

The four femmes looked at her like she'd grown another head.

"What?" she asked.

"Prowl, for real?" asked Flareup. "But that mech is so stiff."

"What she means," said Elita diplomatically. "Is that it's very unexpected. We've known Prowl for a long time and he never gave any indication that he was interested in a sparkmate."

"I guess I just have that effect on some mechs," said Mist proudly.

"The way you threw yourself at him probably didn't hurt," said Night snorting.

Mist just shrugged.

"I totally want to hear that story sometime," said Flareup.

"I'm also bonded," said Dawn chiming in. "My sparkmate is Wheeljack."

There was another round of silence.

"Are you all right?" asked Arcee seriously.

"How are you still in one piece you poor femme?" asked Chromia sympathetically.

Dawn merely chuckled.

"Wheeljack built her a blast proof room so she could visit his lab safely," said Justice. "He doesn't spend quite as much time in there as he used to."

"How romantic," said Chromia.

The femmes chatted for a while about their sparkmates or lack thereof, until Elita brought up joining her group. "I'm the commander of the femmes and I'd like you to join my group," she said.

"I'm a field medic that's been assigned to the wreckers," said Dawn. "Would that interfere?"

"If that's the case, you can train and go on missions with the wreckers, but you'd also be able to go with us on our missions."

"I'm being trained as a frontliner so I'd like to continue training with the twins sometimes," said Night.

Elita nodded. "Any other concerns? If not, then welcome to the team. Feel free to bring up any issues you encounter in the future."

"What's the situation with the femme Rain?" asked Chromia curiously.

"Rain went rogue to fulfill her own mission," said Justice bluntly.

"Do you think she'll come back?" asked Elita.

"I don't believe she feels welcome here, but we do have ways of contacting each other so if we need outside help, she will step in," said Justice. "She still supports the Autobots even if indirectly now."

xxxxx

Optimus sat at his desk and sighed. Smokescreen had revealed some of the details that Justice had provided and that helped clear up a lot of his confusion. The fact that the femmes had deleted most of their human memories themselves shortly after they onlined came as quite the shock. For bots so young, they were continually full of surprises. His door slid open and Elita entered coming to stand next to him. She put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"I'm worried about that femme," said Elita. "Someone so young should not be out there on her own."

"I failed to protect her Elita," said Optimus sadly.

"Optimus, you can't protect them all neither do you bear the responsibility," said Elita. "The femmes were born into this war and they have already chosen their own paths." She pressed her head into his neck. "Rain sounds like a resilient femme and if she knows she is welcome, she may come back. Only time will tell."

Optimus turned in his chair pulling Elita onto his lap. "Oh, how I have missed you my love," he said.

"And I you," Elita purred.

xxxxx

Echo, Arcee and Flareup walked into the rec room and were accosted by a chorus of greetings from the mechs. They settled at a table by themselves after grabbing some energon. The two newly arrived femmes weren't the only ones catching the mech's eye. Echo had changed her paint to a light and dark blue meshed with purple. In her altmode it was a galaxy design spotted with stars. Jazz was sitting at the counter, but turned to watch as they entered. Sometime later he casually glanced their way, he quickly blinked his optics behind his visor and looked again, but Echo was indeed talking almost as animatedly as the other two femmes. The shy polite femme he had known before had disappeared. Cliffjumper and several other bots joined their table and it only got louder as the older femmes teased some of the mechs that they'd known for a long time. Jazz turned back to the conversation he was having with Blaster. There was no way he was getting in the middle of that chaos. Later as he rose to leave, he found his way blocked by the galaxy colored femme.

"Hi Jazz," said Echo smiling. "I just wanted to apologize for what I said in your office. I had some expectations I shouldn't have placed on you and it was childish of me. I hope there are no hard feelings. See you around."

She had appeared suddenly and was gone like a whirlwind leaving Jazz to wonder if that could possibly be her. He stood frozen for a moment until he heard a laugh from behind him and turned to see Night passing by. She must have seen the whole thing.

"What happened to her?" asked Jazz in confusion.

"That's her real personality," said Night. "She finally decided to stop suppressing it. She'll be a lot happier for it."

xxxxx

Night was headed down the hall toward her room when she activated a trap the twins had set. Silver glitter covered her head and shoulders and streamed off of her as she immediately turned and walked toward the nearest wash racks. She sent a private comm to Sideswipe. "Sideswipe, did you leave a glitter trap in the hall?" she asked.

Sideswipe laughed in response. "Sorry, but it wasn't me."

"Must have been the younger twins then," she said. "I thought as much since it was only glitter and not glue or paint. I only wanted to confirm it."

"Where are you now?" asked Sideswipe.

"I'm headed to the wash racks. Most of this should blow right off at least I'm hoping it will," she said. She entered the wash racks and was happy to find them empty. The fewer bots she had to explain this to the better. She stepped under the blower and it activated, but little air came out instead gold glitter poured onto her. Night huffed in annoyance and stepped out. Just then the door opened and in walked Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. They had washing supplies with them.

"Oh, they really got you good," said Sideswipe laughing.

"I'd advise against using the blowers," she said. "I was just going to check if they rigged them all."

"Let me do that," said Sideswipe walking around her glittered form.

Sunstreaker went over to the showers and turned on the water.

"Wow, you must be incredibly lucky," said Sideswipe. "You got the only one that was rigged."

Sunstreaker laughed.

"I wouldn't call it lucky," she said stepping under the next blower. The air sent streams of glitter to the floor and through the floor grates. "The thing about glitter is that it gets everywhere and you can never get all of it off. There's still that sparkle or two you'll find months later. I hope it didn't get into my joints or Ratchet will have my head. The only plus is that it was dry. Wet glitter sticks like a suction cup on glass."

"Ah geez," said Sideswipe suddenly. "Prowl's on the comm complaining about the glitter in the hall."

Night contacted Prowl and told him that she was currently with the older twins and that he should investigate the younger. As they were the more careless set of twins, she was sure he could find trace sparkles on them. "He's headed to check on the younger twins," she said.

"Thanks for that," said Sideswipe with a smile. "I didn't want to end up in the brig for something I didn't do."

"The brig would be better than cleaning up that mess they made in the hall," said Sunstreaker as he rinsed off.

Night stood in front of the mirror turning in a slow circle to try and see if any glitter remained. As she did a second circuit, she noticed the twins watching her. She raised an eye ridge at them and asked, "Did I miss a patch or something?"

"Not that I can see," said Sideswipe smiling widely. "But I'd recommend a wash to make sure."

Sunstreaker turned on the shower next to him and Night shrugged and entered the water. The warm solvent cascaded over her form relaxing her and removing the dust that had accumulated on her form as well as any remaining glitter.

"I think I see some you missed," said Sunstreaker stepping in behind her. He used one of his clean rags on her back tracing her armor slowly following every seam.

While it wasn't unusual for other mechs and femmes to help each other wash, Night was getting a strange vibe from the twins. She had turned her head to look at Sunstreaker and when she turned back she was nearly face to face with Sideswipe. He too had a washrag and he got to work starting at her shoulders. Suddenly she could feel Sunstreaker's arm circle her waist pulling her against him. In front of her Sideswipe pressed in closer. One of the twins, she wasn't sure which one, touched one of the more sensitive lines below her armor and that made a delicious shiver travel through her frame. It took her three swift moves and she broke free of their embrace retreating to the blowers. The twins didn't immediately follow her and seemed somewhat disheartened by her reaction. They slowly finished their wash and turned off the water just as Night finished drying.

As Night headed toward the door, she stopped and looked back. "I don't know what you're up to, but don't play games with femmes," she said. "If I hear about you two causing trouble for my fellow femmes, you'll be the first Autobots to experience my claws, pretty paint job or not." She then turned and stalked out the door.

"At least she called our paint pretty," said Sideswipe sighing.

"Yes while threatening to scratch it off," said Sunstreaker darkly.

"She didn't react badly to our touch though," said Sideswipe. "That's got to count for something."

"She didn't believe we were sincere," said Sunstreaker. "It's hard to tell what she's feeling sometimes. I wish I could see the optics under that visor."

"At the beginning we didn't get along so maybe she doesn't believe that we'd see her that way," said Sideswipe.

"Her mindset is more mature than some of the other femmes. We may have to approach this in another manner," said Sunstreaker.

"The old fashioned way?" asked Sideswipe raising an eye ridge. "We've never done that before."

"Well it's time we did if we really want to pursue her," said Sunstreaker.

Sideswipe nodded his head. "Let's give it a try."


	16. Chapter 16

Justice was on Ark security patrol when she crossed paths with Smokescreen. "Smokescreen," she said politely inclining her head.

"Good cycle," said Smokescreen. "If you don't have plans after your patrol, would you join me in the rec room for some energon?"

"Rumor has it there's a big card game happening," she replied. "I didn't think you'd be missing out. Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," he replied quickly. "I simply didn't feel like playing."

Justice looked at him in concern. This was definitely not typical behavior for him.

"So about later," he said.

"Sure, I will see you in four hours, but if you change your mind feel free to comm me," she said.

"I'll be there," he promised.

Justice continued on with her patrol and Smokescreen laughed to himself. She had agreed to meet him so readily because she was concerned for him. While that initially defeated the purpose of him asking, if it got her there with him, then he was all for it.

xxxxx

Smokescreen was sitting in the rec room a half an hour early waiting on Justice when a clawed hand landed on his shoulder. He turned back expecting to see red and black, but instead saw the purple armor of Night.

"Sorry to disturb you," said Night politely. "I need some advice."

Smokescreen looked to the door reflexively.

"It won't take long," she reassured him.

"It's fine," he said leaning back. "What's the problem?"

"It's the twins," said Night. "I found this on my berth when I returned to my room and Echo said the twins left it for me."

Night was holding a small stuffed dog in her hands. It was one of those plushies that the humans liked to decorate their beds with. It was small for her, but was the size of a full grown human. He raised an eye ridge. "Why a dog?" he asked.

"We were having a conversation a while back about Earth animals and I said I liked dogs. I need you to tell me what it means," said Night with a perplexed look on her face. "I already scanned it so I know it's not a prank and I think the twins tried to make a move on me earlier, but I wasn't sure if they were serious or just flirting as usual. I don't know if this is an apology for what happened or if they are actually trying to court me. You've known them longer so what do you think?"

"Just to be clear," said Smokescreen. "We are talking about Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, aren't we?"

"Yes," said Night. "Maybe it was just a casual thing. Are they known for that?"

Smokescreen suddenly found himself stuck in an undesirable situation. If he said that the twins weren't serious and they turned out to actually be, he would be prank target number one. If he told Night that they could be serious and they hurt her, Justice would probably think it was partially his fault. So he took the only way out he could see. "I think you should wait and see what they continue to do," said Smokescreen. "If they really care about you, they'll continue to try and court you for the long term. Otherwise, it was probably an apology for making you uncomfortable. If you want to know for sure, you'll have to ask them directly what their intentions are. It would be fairer to them to figure out what they want especially if you have another mech you're interested in. That way you could break it to them early on and they could go court someone else."

"I'll do that," said Night resolutely. "Thanks." She headed out of the rec room and another clawed hand was placed gently on his shoulder. This time when he turned he saw the red armor that faded to black in areas and he smiled welcomingly.

"I missed your entrance," he said.

"You were talking to Night," said Justice as she settled down at the table. "She looked worried so I didn't want to interrupt. Is she okay?"

"It was only a small misunderstanding with the twins," Smokescreen replied. "She'll figure it out."

"So are you feeling better than you were earlier?" asked Justice studying him from across the table.

Smokescreen looked up into her optics. "Strangely enough I am," he said dropping his voice an octave. Now that you're here, he thought. "So Night was telling me that she likes dogs, have any Earth preferences you'd like to share?"

xxxxx

The Decepticons heeding Megatron's orders to rebuild the ship had broken into a metal works factory. The team of Bluestreak, Hound, Bumblebee, Arcee, Chromia and Springer had taken them on. Hound and Arcee were separated from the group during the battle, but no one was seriously injured. The Decepticons got away with some of the materials they needed and Optimus knew that they would keep trying until the Nemesis was once again whole and flight worthy. Whether the Decepticons believed Rain's warning or not, Megatron had speeded up the repairs. Optimus was only too glad that the Ark repairs were progressing just as fast.

xxxxx

Wheeljack was in the middle of a project when Dawn contacted him.

"I'm heading out for a drive right now," she said. "It's a beautiful day out and I would love it if you could go with me. Please."

Wheeljack glanced down at his project. While it wasn't top priority, he preferred to finish it sooner rather than later. Before he could make a decision or an excuse, she commed him again.

"If you're tied up, I can ask another mech to go with me," she said sweetly.

If she was going out, he was fine with someone being with her for her protection, but he most certainly wasn't going to allow another mech to go on a leisure drive with her. That was his job. "I'll be right there," he responded. He only became aware that something wasn't quite right when her rate of speed increased dramatically as they left the Ark. She wasn't racing against him and this was no leisure drive. She had a definite destination in mind.

xxxxx

The team that had engaged the Decepticons was almost back to base when the Ark received a distress call. Blaster immediately contacted Optimus. "The distress call is from Rain," said Blaster. "She's about a hundred miles from the Ark."

"The twins are out that way with Mirage," said Optimus. "Send them to her."

xxxxx

The twins and Mirage had been drawn from the base following a random Decepticon signal. It turned out to be a drone which they quickly offlined. When the call came in about Rain, they all headed her way not knowing what to expect. When they reached her last known position, they were shocked at what they found. Rain was lying motionlessly on her back surrounded by eight Decepticon bodies that were ripped apart and offline. Sunstreaker winced at seeing the damage Rain had sustained herself. There was more paint missing than present and several deep gouges and dents riddled her frame. Her visor was cracked as well, but still intact.

"Is she still online?" asked Sideswipe.

At the sound of his voice, Rain's head turned slightly. Mirage immediately contacted the base requesting transport and a medic. Sunstreaker stood protectively over Rain while Sideswipe poked at the Decepticon corpses.

"Who are you?" asked Rain suddenly.

The three mechs looked down at her in shock.

"We're here to help," said Mirage. "What is your designation?"

"I don't know," said Rain.

The twins exchanged a glance.

Not long after, Optimus himself showed up with his trailer and Ratchet and Elita were with him. Ratchet immediately went over to Rain to make sure she was stable enough to be moved. Elita crooned reassurances to her from her other side.

"Sir, she didn't recognize any of us," said Mirage. "She couldn't even tell me her own designation."

"She's in good hands," said Optimus looking over at Ratchet. "Let's head back."

His patient had gone into recharge on the way to the Ark, but she came back online shortly after they arrived. Ratchet had removed her visor to repair it and her optics onlined suddenly revealing beautiful aqua optics. They were much more vibrant than her once beautiful coloring. She stared up into his green tinged optics in confusion.

"My name is Ratchet," he said. "You're in my med bay. I've just fixed your visor so if you'll let me, I'll attach it."

She stayed still while he replaced her visor.

"You had an injured line or two that I repaired, but most of the damage you suffered is cosmetic," he explained. "Do you remember what happened?"

"I was attacked," said Rain. "I don't recall anything after until I onlined and saw a gold mech standing over me."

"Do you remember anything before that?" asked Ratchet.

"No," said Rain frowning.

"I've examined your processor and I didn't find any damage so either you've repressed your past memory files or you erased them to prevent the Decepticons from getting information from you," he said.

"Do I know you?" she asked looking at him curiously.

"Yes you do," said Ratchet. "Do you remember me?"

"No," she said sitting up on the berth. "I feel a spark call for you so I thought that maybe we had been intimate."

Ratchet froze. He didn't know how to respond and he was suddenly glad that no one else was in the med bay.

"Was that not the case?" asked Rain innocently. She slid off the berth and came closer to him.

"You've had a spark call before, but it was for another mech," said Ratchet. "Maybe you're confused. You may have passed him in the hall when we brought you in."

"I think I'd know whom my spark call was for," said Rain placing a hand on his chassis.

"Rain," said Ratchet taking her hand gently and pulling it away from his chest. Still he didn't let it go.

"Is that my name?" asked Rain. Suddenly she ducked her head as if ashamed. "I didn't mean to impose," she said meekly. "I can tell you're not bonded, but maybe you have someone waiting for you somewhere."

"While I don't," he replied. "It's best to let yourself heal and possibly regain your memories before you jump into anything."

"That doesn't stop my spark from calling to you," she said pushing her chassis against his. "My spark calms when you're close. The question is do you feel anything in return?"

It was like the question was a catalyst and Ratchet's spark pulled toward her in a stronger call than before. He couldn't possibly deny it now, but he was still so conflicted. She was currently his patient and she was without her memories. He had no idea what Rain would do if she suddenly regained them. The moment was broken when he received a comm and he hurriedly excused himself. He could feel Rain's optics on him all the way out the door.

xxxxx

Not too long after Ratchet left, Rain got the comm she was expecting. She slipped out of med bay heading toward Prowl's office. She knew that both he and Jazz would be there and they were the targets. Up ahead, both Prowl and Jazz were standing in the hallway talking. She watched as Hound approached them engaging them in conversation. She quickly pulled her short sword from subspace and engaged the star shooter simultaneously. She sent out a comm and sprinted down the hall at her target.

Prowl and Jazz suddenly ducked after receiving an emergency comm from Mist. A star whirred over their heads hitting the blaster that Hound had pulled from his subspace. Rain soared over their heads a moment later short sword plunging deep into the mech's chest. Prowl and Jazz stood and backed up defensively as Rain crouched on top of the fallen mech. Hound's optics started to fade and as his systems shut down his disguise shifted back to the original state.

"Stand down Rain," barked Prowl. Both he and Jazz had blasters pointed at her back. Suddenly the base alarm went off, but was quickly silenced.

Rain subspaced her weapons and turned raising her hands in a display of nonaggression. "That's Makeshift," she said. "Not Hound."

Jazz went over and examined the body. "She's right. It's Makeshift and there's no threat. He's offline."

Prowl lowered his weapon.

"I didn't want to do it this way, but I had no choice," said Rain. "I had some Intel, but by the time I reached Hound, Makeshift had already taken his place. Hound isn't offline though. I managed to stabilize him until Dawn and Wheeljack came. They should be back soon."

"Why didn't you warn us?" asked Prowl.

"I did," said Rain looking down the hall as several other bots approached all of them femmes. "Every single femme on this base from Elita on down knew, but we didn't want him to get suspicious so I couldn't tell everyone. His target was you and Jazz by the way. Megatron wanted the command positions under Optimus cleared in hopes of demoralizing the Autobots."

"What about the offlined Decepticons that were found you with?" asked Jazz.

"Some of them were taken down by Hound, but I did get ambushed as well," she said. "I'm afraid I've made myself a big target between offlining one of Soundwave's cassettes and taking down the Devastation."

xxxxx

Ratchet had returned to the med bay and was dismayed to find Rain missing. He sighed when he heard the base alarm thinking that she may have had something to do with it. He sent out a general comm that she was missing and got an instant reply from Jazz that she was currently in his custody.

Suddenly the med bay door burst open and Wheeljack and Dawn came inside carrying Hound. He had obviously seen better days, but he was still functioning. Ratchet listened to Dawn's synopsis of Hound's injuries while he started the repair work. Rain would have to wait for now.

Rain sat in the conference room waiting patiently. She had already tried the door, but it was locked. Twenty minutes later Elita and Prowl walked in and took a seat across from her.

"My business here is concluded," said Rain. "But I have the feeling that you're not going to let me leave."

"I'd like you to stay," said Elita. "You can join my team. Optimus doesn't hold anything you said when you left against you."

"You must be Elita," said Rain. "Nice to properly meet you. I thought I was part of your team on a freelance basis anyway, but staying here would hamper me."

"We could simply throw you in the brig," said Prowl. "For escaping the brig, desertion and trespassing in the Ark."

"My list of crimes keeps growing," said Rain laughing. "But you know how throwing me into the brig will turn out."

"Is there no way we can convince you to stay?" asked Elita.

"How close is the Ark to being repaired completely?" asked Rain.

"The Ark has been completely excavated from the mountain," said Prowl. "The repair rate for the inside of the ship is 89%. Now that we can reach the entirety of the outside hull, hull repair is estimated at 58%."

"I will stay when the entirety of the internal repair is completed excluding new damage in Wheeljack's lab and the outer hull repair is over 80% and not a moment sooner," stated Rain. "You have to understand that I'm a big target and if I stay in the Ark, I'll attract Soundwave and the others. I don't want the repercussions of my actions hurting my teammates."

"We will release you under one condition only," said Prowl. "That you stay in contact with Jazz in addition to the femmes and if you plan anymore incursions into Decepticon territory that you inform him before hand."

"I can agree to that," said Rain.

xxxxx

Rain was headed out of the base when Ratchet caught up with her. He had finally finished up with Hound and Dawn had informed him of what Rain had planned. He became angry with her when he found out she still had her memories. He threw a wrench her way, but Rain turned back and caught it.

"I think I'll keep this one," she said subspacing his wrench.

"I don't believe I cleared you to leave," he said sternly.

"You didn't, but I'm leaving anyway," she said.

"You had your memories from the very beginning," Ratchet said sourly. "Were you lying to me the whole time?"

Suddenly Ratchet found his frame forcefully pressed against the wall, Rain holding him there. Her lowered voice poured silken words into his audios. "Sure I lied about the memories," she said as one hand delicately trailed along the wires in his neck. "But nothing else was a lie. I only used it as an excuse to see if you were available and willing. I think I got my answer."

"But your spark call was for another mech," protested Ratchet.

"My first spark call was for you," said Rain seriously. "Ever since that first day in the med bay, but you showed little interest in me and I'm not as forward as some of the other femmes because I don't take rejection well. I had already settled on you when I had the second spark call with the Decepticon. We may have also been compatible, but I never lose sight of my initial goal. I know what I want."

"If that's true, why are you leaving," demanded Ratchet his arms coming up to circle her waist.

"This is war and I'm not as naïve as some of the other femmes," said Rain leaning against him. "You're too important to be put in danger by a spark bond. But know that if I wasn't such a target myself right now, I'd take you right here right now."

Ratchet's frame suddenly seized and his optics blinked out.

He onlined in the med bay under the care of Jolt twenty minutes later. He knew Rain was gone and his spark had so many emotions running through it he couldn't sort them out.

"I took the chance to do your routine maintenance while you were out since you keep putting it off," said Jolt. "What caused you to glitch?"

"Rain," Ratchet mumbled. "It was something Rain said."

"I should thank her for getting you in here then," said Jolt smirking.

Ratchet huffed in response and Jolt laughed.


	17. Chapter 17

Night walked into the room to see that there was yet another dog plushie on her bed. They always dropped them off when she wasn't here so it was always a surprise to come back to. She had thanked the twins for the first plushie when she saw them for a training session and they had explained that it was both a gift and an apology, but she hadn't seen them since then. Between the patrols and the work she was doing with the construction crew, she'd been really busy lately. Right now she had six plushies lining the edge of her berth. They were all dogs and each was a different species. Echo looked over at her collection and laughed.

"Oh, they are so into you," said Echo.

"They said the first one was like an apology gift," said Night.

"Maybe," said Echo smiling slyly. "But gift two through six obviously wasn't. Unless of course they've managed to insult you that many times and you didn't tell me."

"It's nothing like that," said Night shaking her head. "I haven't seen them lately so it's not like I can ask. It's not like they've asked me to court them either so I don't want to jump to conclusions. As far as I know, they see me as a friend."

"Maybe this is their way of keeping in touch with you when they can't be there," said Echo. "Leave it to Sideswipe to give you something you're meant to sleep with. He's not really good about being subtle."

Night snorted.

"I'm headed to the rec room," said Echo. "Do you want to come with? A bunch of us is meeting up. Flareup said there's this game she wants to teach me."

"Will Jazz be there?" asked Night glancing her way.

Echo ducked her head shyly. "He was invited as well. Whether he shows up or not is up to his schedule."

"How are things going with him?" asked Night.

"After I apologized, it was like everything reset," said Echo. "I suppose I should be grateful. We chat when we meet up in the rec room, but that's as far as it goes. It's kind of what I was expecting. I sort of threw most of the mechs for a loop when I let my real personality out, but on the plus side at least I don't have to fend off as many courtship requests. Cliffjumper blames my personality shift on Arcee just to get a rise out of her. It's pretty funny to watch."

"I'll go," said Night. "Maybe I'll run into the twins."

Echo and Night entered the rec room just in time to see a mini brawl going on. Mudflap and Skids were tangled up in a brawl with Cliffjumper, Brawn, Windcharger and Huffer. The twins instead of fighting each other were tag teaming the other bots in the fight. From the way some of them were stumbling, Night could tell that they were overcharged so it was unlikely they'd listen to reason. Night immediately commed Prowl about the brawl and he sent a reply that help was on the way. A moment later a chair was flung their way. Both Night and Echo ducked and the chair sailed over them. Behind them they heard a clang and a muffled cry and they exchanged a glance before turning around. Inferno was on the ground holding his head where he'd been hit by the chair. It was still laying half on top of him.

"I'll take care of him. You see if you can break them up," said Echo pulling the chair off of Inferno and crouching down over him. She gently fingered the dent on his head in concern as his optics came back online.

Night stepped into the rec room sidestepping another chair that came her way. She was coming up behind Brawn when she saw the twins enter the rec room. They took one look at her and then waded into the battle. Sunstreaker grabbed Huffer and put him into a headlock. Sideswipe tackled Cliffjumper and they crashed to the floor. To his credit even pinned down, Cliffjumper didn't stop struggling. Brawn had evaded her, but Night managed to get a lock on Mudflap and when Skids went to retaliate, she moved fast enough for the hit to land on Mudflap instead of herself. Night could hear both Sunstreaker and Sideswipe snarl suddenly and Mudflap immediately started swearing at his brother for hitting him. Red Alert ran into the room and incapacitated Skids before he could try again. Skyfire came in as well followed by Prowl. Skyfire grabbed the last two mini bots one in each hand and held them away from each other and off the ground.

Outside in the hallway, Echo had gotten Inferno to his feet and was taking him to the med bay to get checked out. He seemed to be walking okay, but his arm was draped over her shoulders just in case. They had nearly made it to med bay when Inferno started to go over. Echo immediately clutched him around the chest trying to keep him upright. She glanced down the hall in a panic and spotted Jazz and Flareup headed her way. They stopped and froze for a minute staring at them. Flareup looked like she'd won a prize while Jazz looked like he'd been dropped kicked by Megatron.

"Jazz, Flareup," called Echo desperately. "I need help getting him into med bay."

Jazz immediately ran over and helped her support Inferno while Flareup trailed behind. They quickly made it into the med bay where Echo explained what had happened to First Aid. "You might be expecting a few more mini bots provided they don't throw them directly into the brig," said Echo.

First Aid sighed and shook his head.

Jazz, Flareup and Echo headed out of the med bay and back toward the rec room to see if they could still use it for their game. Flareup suddenly giggled and patted Echo on the arm.

"What?" asked Echo raising an eye ridge suspiciously.

"When we first saw you in the hallway, we thought we had interrupted a romantic moment," said Flareup smirking.

"I was trying to stop Inferno from falling over," said Echo. "He didn't need to be busted up further."

"Yea, but it looked like you were hugging him," said Flareup laughing.

"That might be your thing," said Echo in retaliation. "But I prefer to keep my romantic moments off camera." She nodded toward the camera in the hallway.

"At least I'd have a record," said Flareup saucily.

Jazz coughed to get their attention as he trailed behind the two femmes.

"Sorry Jazz," said Echo immediately. "Flareup, don't scar the mech."

They arrived at the rec room to see that it was empty. A few tables and chairs were still knocked over, but for the most part the damage was minimal. They went around and set everything where is should be. Jazz took a seat next to Echo as they waited for the rest of the group to show up.

Down in the brig, the mini bots and the younger twins were tossed into the empty cells under Prowl's direction. Skyfire headed back to the lab while Red Alert went to the med bay to check on Inferno. He told Night that Justice was currently watching the monitors so he wasn't worried. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe escorted Night back toward the rec room after sending some choice insults toward the brig residents.

"You're not hurt, are you?" asked Sunstreaker looking her over as they walked.

"No I'm fine," said Night. "What about you?"

"Not even a scratch," said Sunstreaker.

"I got scratched," stated Sideswipe.

"Because you tackled the fragger," pointed out Sunstreaker.

"Well even for a mini bot, Cliffjumper is a scrapper," said Sideswipe. "The only one that could take him down without getting scraped up is probably Ratchet."

"True," agreed Sunstreaker.

They entered the rec room to see Flareup, Jazz, Hound, Echo, Groove, Bumblebee and Bluestreak already there.

"Are you two playing?" asked Night nodding toward the table.

"We will if you do," said Sideswipe.


	18. Chapter 18

The next big battle came all too soon. It was in a warehouse district in a nearby city next to a bay. Luckily the majority of the warehouses were empty because nearly all of them were flattened by the battle. All the femmes were out heading toward Bumblebee whom had sent out a distress call once again. When they arrived, they found Rain keeping the Decepticons at bay with her explosives while she protected an injured Bumblebee. Bumblebee himself was protecting Carly and Sam.

Dawn dove into the battle slamming into the first mech she saw. Night followed suit drawing her swords as she waded in. Justice was too close for the blaster to be effective so she used her short sword and claws. Mist dodged skillfully around the fighting bots planting magnetic grenades while Echo climbed the first available warehouse and started picking off the Decepticons with her sniper rifle. Chromia came in hot with both cannons firing. Arcee and Flareup backed her up with blaster fire. Elita sent a comm back to base for backup and joined in firing on any Decepticon that got in her way.

The femmes were outnumbered, but they were not going down without a fight. What they didn't expect was for Megatron to make an appearance. He landed right behind Elita catching her by the throat and lifting her off her feet. "I can just see his face when he sees your offline husk," said Megatron smirking. He started to squeeze as Elita clawed desperately at his hands. Suddenly they were jarred as a form slammed into Megatron's back. The force of the hit weakened his grip on Elita allowing her to escape. The hellion on Megatron's back started ripping into his sensitive neck wires with her claws. Megatron bellowed in rage and swung wildly sending Rain flying off. She used her flight path to knock Starscream off his feet and into the water. His high-pitched wail suddenly drowned out as he quickly sank. Rain was going to take on Megatron again when Soundwave and his army of cassettes got in her way. "Bring it," she said.

Mist was too injured to continue fighting. She collapsed next to Bumblebee and used her rifle to shoot any mech that came their way. She knew that Prowl would still live if she offlined and her only regret would be never seeing him again. A large intimidating Decepticon with one large optic loomed over them and Mist put herself between him and Bumblebee. He raised his cannon to fire when he was knocked away by Night. His target switched immediately and Night took a nasty blast to her shoulder. The force from the blast made her land on her back and skid along the ground. A loud battle cry was heard and a red and gold blur went past Night slamming into Shockwave. Behind them Optimus could be seen engaging Megatron.

Echo had been picking off the Decepticons on the ground when she was engaged by the flyers. Thundercracker managed to grab onto her and started lifting her into the air. A shot from Chromia damaged his wing causing him to drop Echo and crash into the bay barely missing a waterlogged Starscream. The roof of an intact warehouse, which then suddenly gave way under her weight, broke Echo's fall. She came bursting out the side of the warehouse as it started to explode, the fireworks it was used to store shooting everywhere.

Skywarp was too busy transporting wounded mechs away to actually fight, but he had to continually dodge Flareup's shots, as it seemed like she had decided on him as her target. He eventually got fed up and went to attack her only to get double teamed by Arcee and Elita. He was then forced to retreat.

Justice was standing over what she hoped wasn't the offlined form of Rain. She was barely keeping Soundwave and the few cassettes he had left at bay. If Rain wasn't offline, then Soundwave obviously wanted to finish the job. Justice fell just as a shot rang out hitting Soundwave. Smokescreen stepped out of the ruins of a warehouse blaster pointed. Springer and Inferno were with him. Soundwave rethought his strategy and quickly retreated. Smokescreen offered Justice his hand while Inferno knelt to check on Rain.

Wheeljack and Perceptor headed straight to Dawn. She was still in wrecker mode, but the battle had worn her down. Right now it was three on one and the mechs decided to even the odds. Dawn was very relieved to see them.

Not long after, the Decepticons called a retreat and they hightailed it out of there leaving the Autobots in the smoldering ruins of the warehouses. Jolt checked over the more injured bots and the Autobots headed back to the Ark with Sam and Carly in tow.

The Autobot with the worst injuries was Rain. She was currently in stasis lock in the med bay under the watchful eye of Ratchet. Bumblebee was also there recovering from his injuries. Echo was laid up in the berth next to him. She was covered in burn marks from the firework powder and had several other injuries from the fall. She was pretty depressed over the extent of her injuries, but Jazz had stopped by in order to cheer her up and he seemed to be succeeding. Mist had already been repaired and she was recharging in Prowl's embrace in their room. Elita and Chromia were also with their sparkmates while Arcee and Flareup were in the rec room relaxing. Wheeljack was in his lab having left his room after Dawn had fallen into recharge. He was determined to fix some of her armor pieces before she woke. The thick armor had protected her, but was greatly damaged in the battle.

Justice was on patrol in the Ark. There were too many things on her mind to allow her to recharge. Smokescreen had tracked her down and was keeping her company. They barely spoke, but she didn't find him bothersome instead she was actually grateful for his presence.

Night was currently in the twin's room. After engaging Shockwave on her behalf, they had stayed by her side protectively until they reached the Ark. Once they were all released from med bay, the twins pretty much coerced her into their room where they promptly pulled out some energon cubes and they all refueled quietly. It was fairly obvious that something was wrong. Sunstreaker's paint was damaged and yet he didn't say a word about it and Sideswipe's usual playful attitude had turned serious. Sunstreaker looked indecisive about something and sat on his berth while Sideswipe paced like a caged lion.

"Are you two okay?" asked Night in concern.

"You need to be more careful around Shockwave," said Sunstreaker. "That mech is ruthless."

"You have no idea what we felt when we saw you fighting him," said Sideswipe. "I'm surprised we didn't go into gladiator mode."

"I didn't know who he was other than a Decepticon," said Night shrugging. "I was trying to protect Mist, Bumblebee and the humans so I had no choice but to engage him."

"We like Bumblebee and Mist even if she's bonded to Prowl, but we are more concerned about you," said Sideswipe. "You're new and you didn't have a clue who Shockwave was. That scared us more than anything. Even veterans would have been more cautious when engaging him."

"You can reprimand me all you want," said Night. "But that won't change what happened. The damage I took has been repaired. I'm fine now."

"No, you were lucky," scoffed Sunstreaker. "That shoulder shot could have easily been to your spark. Shockwave's a very efficient killer."

"I understand now," said Night frowning. "I'll be more careful next time so can I go."

"No," said Sunstreaker and Sideswipe together.

"You're staying with us tonight," said Sunstreaker.

"Look, I'm too exhausted for games," said Night leaning against the wall.

"This isn't a game," said Sideswipe crossing his arms. "We want you to stay. Not just tonight, but every recharge cycle in the future."

Night raised an eye ridge. "You want me to move in with you?"

"What he means," said Sunstreaker shaking his head. "We want you as our sparkmate."

Night blinked her optics looking from one mech to the other. "With me?" she asked incredulously.

"Why are you finding this so hard to believe?" asked Sideswipe.

"I didn't think I was your type because when we first arrived you went after Mist and ignored me," said Night. "You gave me those gifts, but I thought it was an apology for something. There was that time in the shower, but I thought maybe you were just flirting. I can't read your processors so I didn't understand your intentions."

"That's a fair point," said Sideswipe.

"Well what about you?" said Sunstreaker. "You were always protecting the other femmes from us. I started to think that it was out of jealousy or possessiveness."

"I was looking after them," protested Night. "Not moving them out of my way. Do you think that I could have kept them from you if they were truly interested? You do remember Mist and Prowl? Most of these femmes can be pretty forward when they want something."

"Some of the other mechs think you're managing us like younglings. You don't think of us like Bumblebee and the other twins, do you?" asked Sideswipe.

"No, I don't see you as younglings," said Night. "Immature mechs occasionally, but most mechs seem to have that side to them. I'll admit that I do enjoy your company and considering I'm training to be a frontliner that makes it easy to spend time with you."

"You aren't turned off by the whole twin thing?" asked Sideswipe worriedly.

"I realize that you two share a spark, but you're also each your own mech," she said. "I would never try and separate you two."

"Well the two of us want to become three," said Sunstreaker standing resolutely. "This isn't something we decided without thinking it through." Both of them were standing in front of her now.

"Please sweetspark," said Sideswipe.

"On one condition," said Night.

"And that would be?" asked Sunstreaker uneasily.

"Right now we do nothing but recharge," said Night.

The twins shared a glance. "We can do that," they said simultaneously.

Night smiled and Sideswipe swept her off her feet in an excited embrace. Sunstreaker moved his berth over next to his twin's and the three settled down with Night sandwiched between them. Night quickly slipped into recharge and Sideswipe glanced over at his twin.

"I can't wait till tomorrow," he said excitedly over the bond.

"I need to fix my paint," replied Sunstreaker noticing the scratches on the arm he'd draped over Night. "I want to look my best for her."


	19. Chapter 19

There were several small skirmishes with the Decepticons over the next two weeks, but there were few mechs involved and few injuries. Rain was still in stasis, but the rest of the femmes and mechs were repaired and functional.

The twins and Night had not yet bonded because they were either on opposite shifts or out on patrol.

"You think Prowl is doing this to us on purpose?" asked Sideswipe as they drove up to the Ark as they returned from patrol. "He could be getting revenge for all the pranks we've pulled."

"Unless Night told the other femmes and Mist told Prowl," said Sunstreaker. "How would be know?"

"I'm kind of afraid that maybe Night set it up to keep us at bay," said Sideswipe. "Do you think we asked too soon?"

"We'll ask her when we see her," said Sunstreaker.

They strode into the rec room for some energon when they were surprised by the sight of several weary mechs covered in dirt.

"Whoa, what happened to you?" asked Sideswipe.

Sunstreaker skirted around the mechs and reached the energon dispenser.

"We got into a little skirmish with the Cons at an excavation site," said Warpath. "There were large piles of dirt all over. Great for cover, but not so great for keeping clean."

"It was quite the dirty fight," said Kup. "Literally and figuratively."

"I'd take paved road over dirt fields any day," said Hot Rod. "After we fought the Cons off, we had to dig out Night because one of the Cons dropped a hill on her."

"Is she okay?" asked Sideswipe accepting his energon from Sunstreaker.

"She went to Ratchet to get checked out," said Kup. "But she made it here on her own so I think she's fine."

The twins finished their energon and headed out. Sunstreaker commed Night and found that she'd already been released by Ratchet. They found her in one of the wash racks her purple paint obscured by layers of dirt. They quickly jumped in and helped her clean. Eventually all three left the wash racks gleaming not a single smudge left.

"Did you get your energon?" asked Sunstreaker.

"Yes, Dawn gave me some in the med bay," she replied.

"We're back from patrol," said Sunstreaker. "Are you free?"

"Yes I'm free," said Night.

"Will you spend time with us?" asked Sunstreaker and when she agreed, Sideswipe started to bounce happily. They quickly entered the twin's room.

"So what would you like to do?" asked Sideswipe turning toward his shelves. "I have some games or we could put on a movie."

"Sorry," said Night stroking a finger over the back of his neck. "I'm more interested in you."

Startled by the unexpected touch, Sideswipe tripped and landed on his berth. Sunstreaker quickly moved his berth over and Night pushed him onto it as well. She climbed on top of them one knee between each of their legs. Both hands moved delicately over their chassis claws kept carefully away to avoid scratching them. The twins shivered under her touch.

"You've made me wait for far too long," she said seductively.

Their chest plates began to open activating hers as well. Two separate sparks merged into one and then reached for hers. Tendrils of sensation caressed her longingly. She sent those feelings back, but much stronger. Her spark merged with theirs and suddenly there was a rush of pleasure so intense that Night's frame collapsed onto the two mechs. Despite them being one spark, Night could clearly make out the separate presence of Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. As the bond formed, she called out to them individually whispering sweet words to them and caressing them through their spark. When their chest plates finally closed, she lay in between them on her back caressing their neck and faces by touch while they purred in contentment. Night felt incredibly good and incredibly whole, but she wasn't finished yet. She sent a strong feeling of lust through the bond and her mechs responded immediately. They were hers now and she'd make them feel pleasure for as long as they could hold out.

xxxxx

Dawn was in the med bay working on inventory. Ratchet was also there, but since he had no patients, he was hovering over the comatose Rain like usual. She noticed that he seemed to pay extra attention to Rain going so far as to repair her paint. Dawn suddenly chuckled when she got the comm from Night and looked up to see Ratchet watching her. "Night and the twins are now sparkmates," she told him.

Ratchet blinked his optics. "You're not joking, are you?" he asked.

Dawn laughed again. "No I'm not joking," she said. "I just got the comm from Night herself."

"Sunstreaker and Sideswipe with Night," said Ratchet. "Now I've seen everything. I know Night is level headed, but I was unaware that the twins had affection for her. I thought they were simply training her. To think that they could be serious about anything other than themselves is astounding."

"Is it anymore surprising than Wheeljack or Prowl?" asked Dawn.

"I've known Wheeljack for ages and despite his ability to land himself in the med bay, he's a good mech," said Ratchet. "I knew he'd find someone someday. Prowl's logic circuits won't allow him to fully express his emotions and when those two clash, he glitches. He does have emotions though and I'm glad to see he has an outlet for them now. Ever since he bonded, he hasn't glitched once so it's a double blessing. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe on the other hand are loyal to each other and the Autobots in that order. Sure they flirt a lot, but I've never seen them form a deep attachment to anyone else. You obviously don't realize how much has changed and changed for the better since the six of you came online."

"I'll let Prowl know to take them off the patrol rotation for a few days," said Dawn smiling. She left to continue on with other duties and Ratchet was left to watch over his patient that would not wake.

xxxxx

Echo had wandered outside the Ark after coming off her shift in communications. She wanted to watch the sunrise, but she barely made it a few steps from the Ark's doors when she was grabbed by the throat and lifted. She came face to face with the red visor of a Decepticon. Echo froze at the sight. It was Soundwave.

"What is the location of Acid Rain?" asked the Decepticon in a monotone voice. The cannon on his shoulder started to fire up. "You will tell me."

Echo desperately tried to comm anyone inside for help, but her signal was blocked so she tried to buy time. "There are no Autobots called Acid Rain," she said. "I don't know who you mean."

Soundwave projected a hologram of Rain in her black paint and Echo tried to control her reaction, but the mech's presence itself was terrifying. "Where is she?" said Soundwave again tightening his hold on her.

Echo knew that she could simply tell him that Rain was inside, but she highly doubted that he'd just let her go. The glow from his weapon was confirmation of that. When he got his information, she was as good as dead.

"Speak," commanded Soundwave shaking her.

Echo resigned herself to her fate. At least she would go down without betraying anyone. Suddenly a blast hit Soundwave causing him to shift his attention. Echo quickly pulled out her dagger and plunged it into the arm holding her. Soundwave threw her to the ground his cannon aimed at her, but he didn't have time to take the shot because Ultra Magnus suddenly rushed from the Ark sword at the ready. He was quickly followed by Jazz who yanked Echo to her feet and back into the safety of the Ark. Several other mechs ran by and out of the Ark to engage the enemy. Jazz stood protectively between her and the Ark door while she leaned against the wall trying to compose herself. Bluestreak entered the Ark and ran up to her.

"Are you okay?" asked Bluestreak. "I was up on my post when I saw you and Soundwave so I sent out the alert and I had a really good shot so I took it, but the grip he had on you looked painful so I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm okay Bluestreak," said Echo reassuringly. "Thank you for distracting him. You saved me."

"Blue, take her to the med bay for a check up," said Jazz. "I've got some recon to do."

"Sure thing," said Bluestreak. He took ahold of Echo's arm, led her to the med bay and explained to First Aid why they were there. Bluestreak left soon after to resume his post. It didn't take long before First Aid cleared her and Echo headed straight to her room. Not long after, Jazz stopped by to check on her.

"It wasn't a planned attack," said Jazz. "It was only Soundwave by himself and unfortunately he got away. Do you know why he was here?"

"He was looking for information on Rain's location," said Echo looking down. "I didn't give him any, but I think he'll try again. He seems to have a vendetta against her."

"I'll add that to my report," said Jazz. He suddenly moved to her side. "Echo," he said tilting her head up so he could see her optics. "Are you okay?"

"I'm a trained soldier," said Echo. "I go into battle and it doesn't affect me, but today was different. I only went outside barely three steps from the door to see the sunrise when he caught me. I wasn't prepared and he was blocking my comm signal. I was barely able to keep it together and I was so scared. I knew he was going to offline me."

"Even terrified, you didn't give up otherwise I wouldn't have recovered this," said Jazz pulling her dagger from his subspace. He handed it to her and she subspaced it. He reached forward tentatively and embraced her and she leaned into him in response. "From now on, I don't want you stepping one foot outside the Ark unless you're with a group," said Jazz. "You're in communications so that means you're more useful here. I know that seems like you're being caged, but I worry for your safety. In the future if you want to see the sunrise or sunset, I will gladly accompany you. There is no one else here that I'd rather spend time with."

"Can you stay with me a little longer?" asked Echo.

"I really want to, but I have a meeting," said Jazz. "But I promise to come back when I'm done."

"I'll be waiting," said Echo.

xxxxx

"Soundwave seems to have it out for Rain," said Jazz. "She did offline the majority of his cassettes so maybe that's why he's so focused on her."

"What is Rain's status?" asked Optimus.

"She's still in stasis," said Ratchet. "She's completely repaired so there must be another reason she won't online. I'm just glad that Soundwave wasn't able to make his way into the Ark to find her."

Optimus rumbled in agreement.

"Red Alert has assured me that the security in the Ark has been tightened," said Prowl. "There should be fewer opportunities for the Decepticons to successfully infiltrate. Grapple also reports that the internal repairs have been completed and that they will be starting on the external repairs shortly. The Ark should be ready for departure in another month."

"Will we be leaving when that happens?" asked Jazz.

"We will have to monitor the Decepticons in order to decide," said Optimus. "I do not wish to leave the Decepticons alone on this planet and drawing them off is also part of the plan. I'm also concerned for Sam and Carly's safety."

"We could take them with us," said Prowl. "If they come with us as Earth's ambassadors, we would still be able to protect them."

"How difficult would that be?" asked Optimus.

"Requirements for human life are easily found on the Internet," said Ratchet. "Between myself and the science division, we could easily stockpile the necessary supplies and construct more human sized facilities for them. It wouldn't take long. The entire Ark would not have to be oxygenated so they will require spacesuits when they aren't in their quarters. Of course they are married so we would have to prepare for any surprise additions."

"Additions?" asked Optimus.

"Human younglings," said Ratchet. "Humans tend to procreate very quickly."

"Of course, this is only contingent on if they agree," said Prowl.

"Any other updates?" asked Optimus.

"The twins and Night will now be assigned to the same patrol and schedule," said Prowl. "I recommend not separating them for an extended time period to avoid activating the twin's gladiator mode."

"Why is that?" asked Jazz. "Are they courting?"

"They're sparkmates," said Ratchet.

"Night seems to have the same calming effect on them that Dawn has on the younger twins," said Prowl. "Since Night arrived, the amount of pranks the twins have executed decreased by 50%. I believe that now that their attention has a focus it may decrease even more."

"Less headache for all of us," said Ratchet.

xxxxx

Echo was sitting in the dark and barely acknowledged Jazz when he entered her room.

"Where's Night?" he asked looking at the empty berth.

"She already moved in with the twins," said Echo.

"Ah, I just heard about them being sparkmates," said Jazz. "Why isn't Justice with you?"

"She's still keeping her old room and she's on patrol right now," she replied looking up to meet his gaze. "Thanks for coming back. I didn't want to be alone."

"Anything for you," said Jazz moving to sit next to her.

She snuggled up against him putting her head in the crook of his neck. "Would it bother you if I said that I see you as more than a friend?" she asked softly.

"It doesn't bother me," said Jazz stroking her back. "To be honest I was interested in you from the start."

"But that was when I was suppressing my real personality," said Echo. "Now that you've seen what I'm really like, I'd understand if you only want to be friends."

"I'll admit that I was surprised by the change, but not discouraged," said Jazz. "If you're willing, I'd like to start officially courting you."

"Casually or are you interested in becoming sparkmates?" she asked.

"I would love to become your sparkmate someday," said Jazz.

"When is someday?" she asked. "I know that what you do is dangerous, but are you the type to wait until after the war is over?"

"The others already have sparkmates and the war hasn't stopped them," said Jazz. "Whenever you're ready."

"What if I said I was ready now?" she asked.

"I'd wonder if the situation with Soundwave scared you into this," he said. "I will be your support any time you need me, but when you decide to be my sparkmate, I want all thought of Decepticons to be gone from your mind."

"I understand, thank you Jazz," she said hugging him tighter. "Will you stay with me until your shift?"

"Of course sweetspark," he replied.

xxxxx

Justice glanced over at Smokescreen from where she was sitting in his office. He'd called her in for a session after her shift finished.

"You haven't been yourself lately," said Smokescreen starting. "Inferno has reported that you've been almost as jumpy as Red Alert. Will you tell me what's going on?"

Justice looked down and sighed.

"It has something to do with the last battle, doesn't it?" he asked gently. "I noticed how withdrawn you were on patrol afterwards."

"Sorry, I've never reacted like this to a battle before," she said. "It was Rain's fault. No, not Rain, but Soundwave's fault for putting her offline at my feet. I didn't know if she was gone for good and I had to face the one that made her that way. That was the first time a battle has ever felt so real. I've always been emotionally detached during the fights. It lets me do what needs to be done and blocks out the fear so I can function. That was the first time it leaked through during a fight."

"First of all, you don't need to apologize. It's natural to feel fear during a battle because it keeps you alive," said Smokescreen. "You maintained control over it and you still fought. It wasn't like it impeded your actions. Secondly, someone you're close to was injured or possible killed right in front of you. It's a trauma that few can overcome so easily take it from someone who knows. There are methods to try and cope with this and we'll go through them step by step together until we get results."

"Thank you Smokescreen," said Justice sincerely. "I'm glad I have a friend as reliable as you."

"We'll walk this road together Justice," he said. "I'll be with you every step of the way."

"Then we'll face our pasts together," said Justice. "Because from what I just heard, I'm not the only one who needs help overcoming it."

Smokescreen blinked his optics suddenly realizing his earlier accidental admission. He vented. Justice was too sharp sometimes. He wasn't angry at his slip since she was the one he wanted to be with and her finding out about his past was inevitable. He knew that facing the demons in his own past was something he would have to do eventually and perhaps they could heal together.

xxxxx

The monitor hooked up to Rain in the med bay began to beep erratically and Ratchet rushed over running a scan as he approached. Rain was having a spark attack, but he didn't understand why. He had repaired all the damage and her spark had been intact. He'd swept her systems for viruses and found none. He didn't know what was causing this attack, but he knew there were only two outcomes. Rain would suffer through the attack and stabilize or she would offline if she couldn't stabilize. If Dawn was here, she could use her spark energy to stabilize her, but she was currently out on a mission. If he used his own, there was no way to prevent a bond from forming. Of course, this would be a creator bond and not a sparkmate bond, but it was still forcing a bond on her regardless of the way she felt. The monitor beeped again and he looked at the readings. Rain was worsening and he made the split decision to save her. He activated the med bay door locks and turned back to his patient. He pressed against the clasps on her chassis causing her chest plates to slide open and activated his own. His spark reached out gently to her fluctuating spark. Feeling his calm energy, her spark started to settle down returning to a more natural state. He reached out tentatively offering the creator bond, but her spark reacted differently. It rejected the creator bond and latched onto his spark wholeheartedly causing his to gasp. Ripples of pleasure streamed through his spark. Even unconscious Rain was not going to allow the creator bond, when what she wanted was far more. Ratchet tried to pull back, but the incessant call of Rain's spark broke his concentration. The sparks merged sending sparks of energy coursing over their frames. Euphoric eruptions of pleasure pulsed between the two and the sparkmate bond was formed. The sparks resisted the pull to return to their bodies preferring to stay melded in each other's embrace. When their chest plates finally closed and before Ratchet could collect himself, he heard a voice.

"What a way to wake a femme," said Rain over the bond onlining her optics. "I didn't know you had it in you."

"Your spark was destabilizing," said Ratchet gently stroking her face. "I had no choice as I wasn't about to lose you. I tried to offer you a creator bond, but you wouldn't accept it."

"I'm stubborn that way," said Rain smiling.

"Yes you are," said Ratchet looking at her with infatuated optics.

"I may have forced you a little," said Rain looking away. "You won't regret this, will you?"

"Never," said Ratchet.

"How long was I out for?" she asked.

"Three weeks," he replied.

"You will tell me everything that's happened while I've been out," said Rain. "And then I'll make you feel everything I've been holding back all this time."

Ratchet managed not to glitch this time and he carried Rain off quickly to his quarters after unlocking the med bay and calling his assistants to fill in.

xxxxx

All the femmes minus Rain were in the rec room talking about maneuvers and upcoming training when Justice got the comm from Rain. "You stupid brat," she said suddenly. "I can't believe you did that."

The femmes looked over at her in disbelief.

"Sorry, I'm not talking to you femmes," she said. "I didn't mean to say that out loud, but she surprised me."

"If you're saying she," said Elita. "I presume you're talking about Rain since she is the only one out of action and not here. Is she online now?"

"That's right," said Justice. "Except she won't be of any use for a couple of days and she's also taken down our best medic with her."

Chromia laughed. "Did she wake up fighting?"

"No, not like that," said Justice. "She became sparkmates with Ratchet."

This announcement caused a sudden chorus of excited female voices talking over each other, which caused the mechs in the rec room to take notice.

"Femmes, what is going on?" asked Ultra Magnus rising from his seat.

"Ratchet is bonded," said Flareup. "Can you believe it? That wrench wielding mech actually got himself a femme."

"To which one of you is he bonded?" he asked politely.

"No, not us," said Arcee. "His sparkmate is Rain."

"That is the femme that recklessly infiltrated the Decepticons, destroyed one their warships and rescued us," said Ultra Magnus. "That is the one you speak of?"

"Sure is," said Mist.

"That is highly unusual," said Ultra Magnus. "The contrast between the two is remarkable."

"Those are matters of the spark," said Elita. "Age, experience and function don't matter when your spark looks for someone compatible."

Ultra Magnus inclined his head in understanding.

"Geez, now the unbonded femmes are outnumbered," said Flareup whining. She quickly looked at Echo, Justice and Arcee. "Are you three planning anything soon?"

"I'm actually courting Jazz," said Echo. "Sparkmates is a future possibility."

"I have an interest," said Justice. "But we aren't even courting so I'll say no."

"No way," said Arcee.

"That's a relief," said Flareup. "I didn't want to be the only one."

xxxxx

Ratchet lay on his back on the berth with Rain cuddled into his side. "I should apologize," he said.

"What for?" asked Rain softly.

"When the six of you were sparked, we should have immediately forged a creator bond with you," said Ratchet. "It's standard protocol for all newly sparked bots, but since you had memories already, you didn't require the type of orientation most new bots need. However a creator bond is both meant to nurture and guide the new bot. It also aids in the stabilization of new sparks as well. It was something you would have benefitted from. Perhaps the spark attacks would never have occurred if we had done so."

"There is no use in dwelling in the past," said Rain tracing the lines in his neck. "You simply learn from it and move on."

Ratchet rolled over onto his side facing her. He gently pushed her visor up so he could see her optics. "I thought your behavior was brash, reckless and stubborn, but every move you made seemed so certain and it got a result so there was nothing I could do but watch as you thankfully returned each time. But you weren't certain, were you?" he asked stroking down her arm.

"I had a plan and steps to complete in it in order for that plan to reach fruition," said Rain offlining her optics for a moment. "I was not certain that I could complete it and I was very scared, but I kept telling myself that if I accomplished the next step that those I cared for would be safe. It wasn't about me, but about them. After Justice transferred the last of her memories, I lost the only confidant I had. She didn't know anything beyond the infiltration setup and I knew she didn't want to be involved. At that point there was no one left to talk about my plan with. From that moment I was alone."

Ratchet tightened his hold on her and she stared into his optics. "You are not alone anymore," he said.

She smiled. "And I want to express how happy I am about that," she purred as her claws massaged his chassis.

Ratchet groaned. "As much as I wish it, we can't stay in here indefinitely," said Ratchet lowly.

"If you're needed, they will call you," she purred. "Until then, you're mine."

Their chest plates slid open and their sparks reached for each other. Rain delighted in the quiet strength that was Ratchet. Far older and certain in his knowledge, he radiated love that was both doting and so deep that it threatened to sweep her away. Ratchet found deep need in Rain which he was eager to fill, but also a hidden intelligence and strength that would support him forever. It was a constant flooding of feeling as her spark cradled his with a promise that she would embrace him until the stars burned out. Together their sparks burned with a passion that was both new and bright and old and deep. Ratchet pulled her closer as their sparks melted in wave after wave of pleasure that dissolved into a cascade of stars. Each star sending titillating waves resounding from their sparks to completely encompass their frames. It was an entire week before Ratchet left his room.

"Nice to see you again," said Jolt smirking as Ratchet walked into the med bay.

"Oh come now," said Dawn. "He was busy."

"I bet he was," replied Jolt smirking.

"What happened to your chassis?" asked First Aid examining him.

Ratchet looked down to see three small shallow scratches he hadn't noticed before. "It's nothing," he said. "Merely cosmetic."

"She didn't strike me as the aggressive type," said Dawn causing the other mechs to laugh.

"Got to watch out for the claws in the future," remarked Jolt.

"She probably marked him on purpose," said Dawn. "It's like an extra sign stating that he's hers."

"If you three are done," said Ratchet with his arms crossed. "I need to be updated on everything I missed."

"Sure thing Ratchet," said First Aid.

xxxxx

Ratchet sat listening to the meeting proceed, but he was only partially paying attention. He could feel Rain through the bond. She was still in his room recharging lightly. He had forbidden her from leaving until he was certain of her status with the Autobots.

"I've learned that congratulations are in order old friend," said Optimus. "What is Rain's status?"

"She's online and her spark fluctuations have stabilized," Ratchet replied. "I don't foresee another problem unless she's injured in battle. With the change in circumstance, I believe I can convince her to stay on the Ark if that is fine with you."

"Of course," said Optimus. "We want her to stay and we will overlook her past behavior as she has done nothing but aid the Autobots."

"We nearly met her requirements for returning anyway," added Prowl. "The internal repairs are completed and the external repairs are at 78%."

"Bumblebee has talked with Sam and Carly and they've agreed to become Earth's ambassadors," said Jazz for Ratchet's benefit.

"The science division and your assistants have already started to gather things required for them to come with us," said Prowl. "Through the liberal use of Rain's account, we have obtained all the necessary supplies including some non-essentials and souvenirs that somehow managed to find their way onto the list. Hound and Trailbreaker have already equipped one of the spare supply rooms as a greenhouse."

"We have informed Earth's governments of our imminent departure," said Optimus. "They've come to realize that getting the Decepticons off their planet is in their best interest despite what they may have planned. Sam and Carly have already been approved of as ambassadors and they're currently undergoing a week of training before they can leave."

"So we can leave as soon as the construction is finished," said Jazz. "I enjoyed Earth and I wouldn't mind returning, but it will be great to see Cybertron again. It will also be the first time our new femmes see it."

"On that note," said Prowl. "I recommend that we be extra vigilant to ensure that we all make it off this planet. Crashing the Ark once again would be the Decepticon's way of taking us all down at once which is something I'd like to avoid."

"Agreed," said Optimus.


	20. Chapter 20

It didn't take long for the external repairs to finish and within two months the Ark was ready to leave. Decepticon skirmishes had been few and far between during those two months and over the last week there had been no sign of them at all. While this put most of the Autobots on edge, Rain simply excused it as them hurrying to finish the repairs on the Nemesis as well.

Sam and Carly were safely on board and the Autobots were busy running final checks on the Ark's systems. Finally everything checked out to their specifications and Optimus gave the command to launch. They intended to exit the Earth's atmosphere and maintain orbit around the moon until they were sure that the Decepticons were following them. Once in orbit, they directed their scans on the Earth waiting for either transmissions from the humans or signs of the Nemesis.

Everything was quiet on Earth over the next week, but at the end of the week the Nemesis left the atmosphere leaving the planet behind.

Ratchet had been busy all week. It was one project after another. He was busy getting Carly and Sam situated as well as treating Autobots who came in with slight damage from training or pranks. He hadn't seen Rain in over a week. When he called her over the bond, she reassured him that she was perfectly fine, but that she was currently busy. It didn't concern him too much until he tried to find her and the computer couldn't locate her on the ship. He immediately went to Red Alert.

"The computer is saying that Rain isn't on board," said Ratchet panicking.

Red Alert typed several things into the computer and started reviewing footage. Finally he pulled up a clip of Rain in her black Decepticon paint leaving the Ark on the day they departed. Ratchet sunk into the nearby empty chair in shock.

"Why would she leave?" asked Ratchet in disbelief.

"Maybe she joined the Decepticons," said Red Alert. "Or wanted to stay on Earth."

Inferno who sat beside him promptly smacked him in the back of the head. "She's not a Decepticon," said Inferno. "They would kill her on sight after what she did. Maybe she came up with another plan."

Ratchet reached for her over the bond and she sent him love and reassurances that she was all right.

Red Alert pulled up footage from Earth from half a day ago. It was of Rain getting surrounded by Decepticons. They didn't rip into her as he expected them to, but escorted her somewhere with their blasters trained on her. "The Decepticons have her," said Red Alert.

"We have bigger problems," said Inferno pointing to the screen where the Nemesis was emerging into space.

"Ratchet, go to the bridge," said Rain over the bond. "You'll understand once you get there." Ratchet immediately headed for the bridge. Optimus and most of the command staff were already there. The Ark moved off quickly drawing the Nemesis further from the Earth. As they passed Pluto, the Nemesis sent them a message and Megatron came onto the screen. "Give up the Allspark shard," said Megatron.

"What makes you think that we would comply?" asked Optimus.

"What about if I return something of yours," said Megatron stepping back from the screen. Behind him stood Rain in her Decepticon colors. "She is mostly undamaged at the moment. It would be a waste for a new spark to die so soon."

Prowl looked at Optimus and shook his head. As sad as it was, they could not give the Allspark shard up for one Autobot.

Ratchet stood frozen a look of shock on his face.

"No deal," said Rain smiling from behind Megatron and suddenly the transmission from the Nemesis was cut off.

The Ark suddenly put on a burst of speed distancing itself from the Nemesis without command from Optimus. Optimus looked over at Blaster and Echo who were at the controls. Jazz stood behind them. Suddenly the Autobots watched stunned as the Nemesis exploded on the screen.

"Rain," said Justice quietly from where she stood.

"It can't be," said Ratchet in disbelief. "She isn't gone. I can still feel her."

"Because I'm not," said Rain walking onto the bridge surprising many of the bots.

"Where have you been?" asked Ratchet moving to embrace her. "I couldn't find you anywhere."

"I'm sorry, but we had to make sure there weren't any spies on board and your reactions had to be genuine when you found out I was captured. The femme that got captured wasn't me. I infiltrated the Nemesis using a remote controlled puppet of myself. You may recall that in your time on Earth there was a scientist that built a Ninjabot."

There was a look of recognition among those bots that had been present on Earth for a while.

"I appropriated the Ninjabot for some serious cash that would allow the scientist to continue his work on other projects unhindered. With the help of Wheeljack and Dawn, I made it look like myself with the Decepticon paint. That is what they took onboard. I had just enough explosives stashed in the bot to detonate the entire ship safely without making the warp engines create a black hole."

"You did this without orders again?" asked Prowl turning to her.

"I approved it," said Jazz quickly. "However it was need to know. Blaster, Inferno, Echo and I boosted the signal while Rain controlled her copy remotely."

"That's simply devious," said Ultra Magnus.

"That's black ops," said Jazz shrugging. "Though Rain had the initial idea."

"Ultra Magnus, I realize that you didn't spend very much time on Earth, but there's much to be said for the deceit and treachery of humans," said Rain smiling. "I've learned from the best and you're right to think that I have the temperament of a Decepticon so aren't you glad I'm on your side?"

Ultra Magnus merely raised an eye ridge.

For as bad as Rain tried to make the others think she was, Ratchet knew better as he pushed love across the bond. He knew it was simply her way of protecting others. Rain sent a wave of love in return laced with lust and Ratchet shivered. Oh, she was bad all right, but not in the way they expected.


	21. Chapter 21

The Autobots remained to monitor the Milky Way galaxy for a while until they were sure that any remaining Decepticons had left or were destroyed. With the loss of Megatron, the war was all but won however there were still small bands of Decepticons out there. They finally headed back to Cybertron much to the relief of the crew and the excitement of Carly and Sam.

xxxxx

Smokescreen was going to recharge when there was a chime at his door. He opened the door to see Justice standing there. "My shift is over," said Justice looking uncertain. "Do you mind if I come in?"

Smokescreen moved back allowing her to enter. He could put off recharging for a while if she needed to talk. The door slid shut and he was abruptly pushed down on his berth. He scooted back in surprise as Justice climbed on top of him. "You'll have to run away faster than that if you don't want this," said Justice in a sultry voice. She was watching him closely trying to gauge his reaction. She ran her claws slowly against the seams in his chest and Smokescreen shuddered beneath her.

"It's not that I mind," said Smokescreen catching one of her hands and caressing it. "I simply didn't think you thought of us as more than friends." He caught her optics and held them.

"I've always held an interest and it's been developing ever since I met you," she replied. "It simply took someone pointing it out to realize that you might feel that way as well."

"You were testing me just now," said Smokescreen stroking her arm. "Did you get the answer you were looking for?"

"That ultimately depends on you," she purred softly.

"As much as I wish to be with you," he said. "I come with a lot of emotional baggage and there are things that I don't think I can talk about yet."

"I'm aware of that," said Justice stroking his face. "I do believe you said that we'd heal together. If we're bonded, you won't need to speak it out loud. My spark will always protect yours."

Smokescreen regarded her with wide optics. "My roommate could walk in at any time," he finally said.

Justice just smirked.

"What?" asked Smokescreen in surprise.

"Your roommate has been indefinitely detained," said Justice.

"You think of everything," said Smokescreen smiling slyly.

"I have a lot of friends," said Justice. "But I'd also like to have a mate."

"Do you mind if I volunteer for that position?" he purred.

"I was hoping you'd say that," said Justice moving closer to him.

Their chest armor retracted exposing their sparks. Smokescreen tentatively reached for hers feeling more vulnerable than he had in a long time. Justice was very gentle. Her spark moved to embrace his with a delicate touch until Smokescreen relaxed completely into the bliss she provided. Gentle delicate touches turned into more ardent embraces as Smokescreen completely let go of the last of his reservations and submitted to the rush of pleasure that blossomed within his spark and spread to his frame. The bond formed before either of them noticed it. Justice completely relaxed in the feeling of having found someone who could not only relate to her, but protect her both mind and body. Like she had promised, Smokescreen felt her support and love completely encompass his own spark blocking out everything that wasn't here in this moment. With her by his side he was sure that old hurts would finally heal and in this moment he felt completely whole. When they finally broke apart, Smokescreen immediately slipped into recharge. Justice quickly followed intending to greet him immediately when he onlined.

xxxxx

Mist sat on Prowl's lap with her head tucked under his while he finished up the last of his data pads for the day. No words were exchanged. They simply stayed near each other in comfortable silence.

xxxxx

Dawn was finishing her duty in the med bay. She sent a message to Wheeljack over the bond that she was headed back to the room. Wheeljack returned with a message that he'd be there soon and Dawn chuckled knowing that his soon amounted to a few hours.

xxxxx

Night let her fingers wander over the legs of the twins that were sitting on either side of her. She drew gentle circles on the legs closest to her. The movie that they were watching was good, but she didn't particularly feel like watching it right now so she turned her attention to the twins. Suddenly the screen flicked off and she looked over at Sideswipe to see him looking at her with an intense look in his eye. Suddenly Sunstreaker gripped one of her arms and Sideswipe took the other pulling her up and placing her gently on the berth. They quickly snuggled up next to her.

"You should have said something if you were bored," said Sideswipe.

"I wasn't," protested Night. "The movie was interesting. I just found the two of you more interesting."

Sunstreaker snorted in amusement.

"If you want to watch the rest of the movie, you can," said Night. "I'll stay here so I won't be so distracting."

"We'd rather be with you," said Sunstreaker caressing her back. "Anytime, anywhere."

"Well I'm not about to do anything risqué in the rec room or the hall," said Night. "So I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you."

Sideswipe burst out laughing, but his laughing turned into a gasp of pleasure as Night stroked his chest.

"I love you," said Sideswipe and Sunstreaker simultaneously.

"I know," said Night smirking.

xxxxx

Echo had finished her shift in communications and was headed to her room. Her empty room now that Night was with the twins permanently. Before she could get the door open, a hand dropped onto her shoulder and she startled.

"Hey sweetspark," said Jazz by way of greeting.

"Jazz," she replied.

"Blaster told me you were off," he said leaning against the wall. "Mind if I join you."

Echo nodded and he followed her into her room. As the door slid shut, Jazz reached around her and took one of her hands causing her to turn around and face him.

"There's something I want to say to you before we reach Cybertron," said Jazz looking her in the optics. "I know that a lot of things will change when we get there and we might even be separated by distance. You'll be able to meet so many new bots, but I want you to know that my affection for you won't change."

Echo could see where this was going and she looked down. "Did you want to break the courtship?" she asked softly.

"No," denied Jazz vehemently. "That's the last thing I want. I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted you to know that I'll find a way to be where you are no matter what."

Echo vented. She really didn't like the idea of having to separate from Jazz. Something could happen to either one of them and for all she knew she'd get left behind on Cybertron while the more experienced Jazz would head off to take out the rest of the Decepticons. "I understand," said Echo softly. "I can't predict what will happen in the future, but I'll wait for you if you leave me behind."

"I'm not planning on leaving you behind," said Jazz cupping her cheek.

"You're way more experienced than I am," said Echo logically. "If they go after the remaining Decepticons, you're more likely to get selected than I. I know first hand how protective bots can be of the newly sparked. They probably won't let me go with you."

"Then I'll make them," said Jazz pulling her into his lap as he settled on her berth. "Become mine and they won't be able to separate us."

"No," said Echo pulling away and standing up suddenly. "You didn't want me to bind you after being attacked by Soundwave and I don't want you to bind me simply because you fear them separating us."

"I'm sorry," said Jazz reaching for and grasping her hand. "I wish to bind you because I love you," he said retracting his visor so she could see his optics for the first time. "Everything else is secondary. I know I told you that I wanted to wait until you were ready, but I want you now."

Echo could see the sincerity in his optics. She straddled his legs pushing her chest against his as she embraced him. "I love you too," she murmured into his audio.

Chest plates parted and their sparks entwined becoming interwoven as the bond formed. Jazz lay back on the berth pulling her with him as their frames shivered from the waves of ecstasy flowing off their sparks. Two formerly lonely sparks were flooded with love and devotion from the other. Echo lay on top of Jazz after their chest plates had closed snuggling as pleasant aftershocks passed through their frames.

"We should have done that much sooner," murmured Echo into his neck.

Jazz burst out in laughter. "Want to try again?" he asked stroking her arms.

"Yes please," said Echo purring.

"Whatever you wish my spark," replied Jazz.

xxxxx

Rain and Ratchet showed up at the card game that night.

"We're here to replace Smokescreen and Jazz," she said. "And Ratchet needed a break from med bay anyway."

"I figured Jazz wouldn't be here," said Blaster. "What happened to Smokescreen?"

"Justice," said Rain smirking.

"Two new sets of sparkmates," said Ratchet shaking his head. "There must have been something on Earth to have caused this phenomena. I've never seen newly sparked bots become sparkmates so quickly."

"I'm sure you're not complaining," said Hound glancing over at Rain.

"That is one thing I will never complain about," said Ratchet meeting Rain's gaze.

"I'm dealing," said Rain grabbing the cards and shuffling.

"Are you any good?" asked Mirage from where he sat.

"You'd be surprised," said Rain winking her visor.

Ratchet merely shook his head and glanced at his sparkmate. He knew that Rain still had Audrey's memories and that Audrey was very good at playing cards. He wouldn't be surprised if she won the whole thing. She must have known what he was thinking because she sent a glance his way as she dealt the cards. "Win or lose, you'll still be winning after this game is over," sent Rain over the bond. She sent a burst of lust over the bond and Ratchet shivered. Oh he'd be winning all right. He'd won the moment she claimed him.


End file.
